RWBY: The Jet Chronicles - Part 4: Everafter
by CrazyCrashCybr
Summary: Jet and Ruby have fallen to darkness, and now Ruby must keep their status hidden from everyone, even her own team. But time is running out as Flux prepares to make her move on Vale. Jet's scared of something, but no-one, not even Ruby, can figure out what. Will they be able to stop Flux and save the kingdom, or will the Roses of Darkness wither and die in her wake?
1. Chapter 1 - Embrace

"The light is frail." Jet responded, turning Deus' gaze unto himself. "Too weak to be any use in battle. The strength lies with the darkness. With your children. We recognise that."

"MY SISTER THINKS DIFFERENT. BUT THIS MATTERS LITTLE." Deus growled. "HAVE YOU AN ESTABLISHED TITLE ALREADY FOR YOUR PARTNERSHIP?"

"The Roses of Darkness." Both Jet and Ruby replied at once.

"FITTING BY YOUR NAMES AND RINGS." Deus commented. "NOW! HEIR AND FULCRUM. ARE YOU READY?"

"We are." Jet and Ruby both spoke in unison. Ruby felt a sizzling pain in the palm of her right hand, and looked to see a circular cut forming on her palm, crying out and attracting Jet's gaze. He also had the cut on his right hand.

"DO YOU, JET XIAO ROSE, CLAIM YOUR RIGHTFUL STATUS AS AN ANGEL OF DARKNESS, AND OF MY KIN?" Deus asked.

"I do." Jet replied, turning back to the Grimm. The cut was now bleeding slowly, warm drops staining her skin.

"AND DO YOU, RUBY ROSE, VOW TO BECOME THE FULCRUM OF THIS NEW ANGEL?"

There was silence as Ruby considered all of the things she'd be throwing away if she did this. Her team, beacon, her family… but this must be done. If they stood any chance of defeating Flux, then it must come to pass, for the sake of those she would abandon eventually.

She knew that she and Jet would eventually be branded as outcasts from society for uniting with the Grimm, but if truth be told, she didn't need them. Nothing mattered too much, as long as she stayed by Jet's side.

"I do."

"THEN LET THE SHACKLES BE RELEASED!" the Dark God roared, and Ruby gripped Jet's right hand with her right hand!

She felt her blood intermingle with his own, seeing the incarnation of Deus raise its arms, and as it did so, purple energy gathered between the two lovers. Ruby felt it course through her. It felt so strange, yet so… empowering!

"TAKE WHAT IS RIGHTFULLY YOURS, AND LET THE WORLD KNOW OF YOUR UNLIMITED POWER!"

Jet released Ruby as she stopped glowing with purple energy. He however, continued to glow.

"DO IT, HEIR!" Deus encouraged. "EMBRACE THE SHADOWS!"

Jet fell to one knee, flattening his wings against his back and crossing his arms against his chest. The power flowing through his veins was incredible, the electric jolt as it surged through his spine, reaching every inch of his body as the glow increased in intensity. He gave a final scream, barely hearing Ruby yell his name, before a flash blinded him.

When his eyes had recovered, Jet realised that his strength had returned. He stood up, and noticed that purple flames danced around him, and he was holding a sharp, long lance with a swirling pattern along the weapon, and a circular shield was attached to his left arm with a similar pattern.

Just like Flux.

Ruby had uncovered her eyes, and was now standing beside Deus, looking at him with wide eyes.

"How do you feel?" she asked tentatively. Jet grinned at her as he extinguished the flames, and began to laugh as he felt the weight of his new weapons. His laugh echoed throughout the castle, and he didn't stop for a good five seconds.

"Excellent." he replied. "Like a new person entirely."

"GO FORTH, AND DECIMATE YOUR ENEMY." Deus declared, and the dark god vanished from the spot. "EXERT YOUR POWER TO YOUR HEART'S CONTENT!"

"We will do exactly that." Jet replied, before he outstretched his hand for Ruby to take.

As soon as she took it, he stretched his wings and flared his new flames. He took flight, flinging Ruby onto his back and blasting though the stone roof of the chasm. They soared higher and higher, Ruby in dead silence, holding onto his back tightly.

He reached the clouds and looked over the snowy grounds of the castle. This was it. His final transformation was complete.

Now, Jet was ready for her.

"Flux." Jet said to himself in a low growl as Ruby climbed up into a more comfortable positon. "Your days are numbered!"

There was silence, then a little giggle from behind him.

"Yes, Jet. They are." Ruby hissed from behind him.

With that, they shot off, away from the castle, back to Beacon, in a surge of purple beams of light.


	2. Chapter 2 - Descending Shadows

Jet and Ruby were both in flight over Vale. For the most part, they were undisturbed, save for several people who were taking pictures of Jet. Ruby couldn't remember the last time she'd felt so powerful.

"We can do anything now, can't we?" Jet asked, tentatively.

"You're kidding, right?" Ruby responded in disbelief. "You're practically a god now."

"My apologies, my love." Jet answered, the darkness returning to his voice. "It's just hard to believe."

Ruby wondered briefly how their powers would affect her own abilities. She put it out of her mind, thinking Jet would explain later. As if reading her mind, Jet turned to meet Ruby's eyes.

"We are lords of Grimm now. And while you're not as strong as me, you're the one keeping me here, making you just as important as me." he explained. "We have to conceal our powers, at least until Flux shows herself again."

A small part of Ruby rejected this whole thing, and wanted nothing less than to go back to Yang and the others. She swiftly silenced that part of herself.

* * *

The two Roses landed near a restaurant that nether recognised in Vale. No party to hunt them was seen, so Ruby took this to mean that news of their betrayal had not spread to Beacon yet. This was good; it would make things easier.

Vale at night was a metropolis of dark streets, luminescent shop lights and noisy bystanders. As Jet and Ruby advanced across the streets, they happened upon a group of large and burly men. They reeked of alcohol, the stench making Ruby's eyes water. Their solution was to cross the quiet road and pass them on the other side of the road.

As the pair walked across from the group, one of the men suddenly pointed at Ruby and called out.

"Hey baby! Leave goth boy over there and join us!" he yelled drunkenly.

"Goth boy?" Jet muttered, leering at the group. There were six of them, and all of them looked pretty burly to Ruby.

"Leave them. We fight only if we have to, my crown gem." Ruby said, commandingly. Jet nodded in agreement, and they continued. The group of men, egging each other onwards, followed the pair for several blocks, catcalling all the while.

"Leave him! We'll show you a good time!"

"Show us some more!"

"You know you want to!"

Jet growled. Ruby agreed with his non-verbal expression of irritation, these idiots were asking for it.

"They'll only attract attention to us. Why is it always the big guys? Insolent fools." Jet hissed, as the pair came to a standstill.

"Let's silence them in that alley. Come on!" Ruby whispered, and with a cheeky wiggle of her bum, took Jet and lead him into a back alley. It worked, and all six of the drunkards followed. They let the group about halfway between the two entrances of the alleyway, then turned to face the men.

"What is your problem?" Jet asked them, darkly. "Leave us be."

"We want your bitch, of course." the largest of the six grunted.

"You can't have me." Ruby stated, blushing a little at being called that.

"We'll take you if we have to." a short member of the gang responded, flexing his knuckles.

At this, Jet unfurled his wings, stretching them to their full extent, their black feathers casting dark shadows in the alley. The purple flames roared around Jet, and the Angel of Darkness took a step in front of her. Ruby let out her best evil laugh, and found that the darkness amplified it and deepened it, which both excited and terrified her at the sound.

"You'll regret calling my girlfriend that." Jet angrily spoke. "Taste my wrath!"

"Get out of the way, freak." the biggest brute growled, before charging with his arms outstretched, one of his mates moving behind him with his eyes on Ruby. She waited for Jet to redirect the charging brute before focussing on the smaller target behind him.

The little thug that had threatened to take her swung a wild punch. Ruby easily blocked it, before retaliating with a swift jab at her attacker's torso. It connected, and her opponent gasped in pain. She followed up by aiming her fist at his head, intending to knock him unconscious with a strong blow, but he raised his right arm to block the attack. However, her attack broke the arm used to block, and her opponent howled in agony, clutching his now useless limb.

Two of the other drunks attacked her at the same time, pushing past the injured one. Ruby ducked under their punches before kicking one of the men directly in the crotch, causing him to collapse. The other thug kicked her in the chest, knocking her over but not causing any harm. Before Ruby could get back up, her attacker leaped on top of her. It was a blonde haired man, square jawed. His stink of BO and alcohol caused Ruby's eyes to water.

"Time to squeal, bitch." he shouted, and his hand went towards her skirt.

Before he could do anything, however, Ruby saw Jet pick up the crumpled form of the big brute and threw the man at her would-be rapist. The hairy boulder smashed into him, sending both men into a stony wall, and she heard the tell-tale crunch of bones breaking from the impact.

From the ground, she watched as her lover grabbed the remaining two men on the ground by one leg each. Jet then slowly began to whirl in circles, spinning the men faster until he threw the men one by one into the pile of bodies. Black rose petals scattered everywhere as he turned to face the only man still standing, as Ruby rose up.

She was furious. Only Jet could touch her there. These men were going to pay!

"He's mine." Ruby growled as she lunged at the one-armed leader, feeling her anger increase her strength. Jet took flight, and as the man tried to run, he found Jet behind him, blocking his path, and dooming him to the fate that the enraged Ruby had in store. Panicked, the man cursed before swiftly pulling a gun and firing at her head!

At once, a black barrier materialised and deflected the bullet before vanishing. Ruby reflexively cowered, but Jet was now the angry one. He grabbed the man from behind and took flight, hovering several meters above the pile of his broken and bruised mates, purple flames dancing around them.

"You dare threaten the love of an Angel? Let's see how you like this!" Jet roared, before throwing his victim hard into the pile of bodies. Screams and crunching coupled with groans and cries from the six men followed the impact. As he landed, Ruby looked upon the body pile with satisfaction. She could get used to this.

"Stupid." Ruby said to Jet. "They wanted to rape me."

"We punished them for their insolence. Now, let us continue." Jet replied, before taking her hand and leading her out of the alley, leaving groaning and pleading voices behind.

Inside, she was giggling to herself. The power she felt was like nothing she'd ever felt before.

"I could get used to this." she mumbled to herself.


	3. Chapter 3 - Pure Power

Jet and Ruby stepped through the door of Team RWBY's dorm to find Weiss and Blake soundly asleep, and Yang at the desk with the dull light on. As the two Angels ventured in, Yang raised her head from her work and, upon realizing who it was, bounded over and pulled the two weary siblings into a hug.

"Welcome back!" she greeted cheerfully, but upon realizing how tired they supposedly looked, not to mention when Jet visibly suppressed a yawn (at least in his own mind), Yang didn't say anything else. She lifted the pair on either shoulder, and Jet watched as she deposited both of them gently onto their floating bed, taking off their shoes and outer coats before laying them side by side.

 _'Thank you, sis'.'_ Jet sent her via telepathy as he embraced Ruby under the covers of Ruby's bed. He didn't hear her reply, as he was swiftly off to sleep.

* * *

When Jet next awoke, it was early morning.

The first thing he felt was Ruby, who had wrapped herself around his side. He looked at her face and saw a sweet, contented smile on her face. Jet felt his heart skip a beat upon seeing it. How on Remnant was she this cute?

Jet gently prised himself off of his fulcrum, and the Angel of Darkness leaped lightly off the bed. All four girls were asleep. He texted Ruby using his scroll, then realised the date was January 01. One day before classes started again.

Exiting the dorm, Jet wandered outside and into the plaza that was bordered by the cafeteria and the dorm rooms, with the training arena not too far away either.

"I should probably test these new powers." Jet muttered to himself. He took flight, and soared above the walls into the arena. In reality, the arena should be closed until it opens at 8 am, but walls were no barrier to him.

He landed in the middle of the arena and released his restraint on his powers. The purple flames flickered around his body, and the shield and lance appeared. He noticed writing on the haft of the lance now that he looked at it closely.

Doomsayer.

"Fitting name." Jet said to himself. He checked the shield for a name. He found it on one of the spiral patterns on the inside of the shield.

Darkening.

"So Doomsayer and Darkening." Jet said to himself. He sent out a pulse with his mind, and felt his flames roar even greater, fuelling him with more energy. When he pictured that pulse drawing back inwards, the flames died down, and eventually ceased burning.

He then crouched and pointed his lance at a particular section of wall, channelling his willpower through his lance. Purple aura started to glitter around the whole weapon, growing slowly in brightness and heat. Jet maintained this pressure for several seconds and then released. A massive laser, the size of it enough to engulf a battle tank, blasted forth and pulverised the wall of the arena, shattering the shield normally protecting it and burning away part of the wall.

Jet grinned as he twirled the lance around, watching as his flames arose once more. He laughed to himself, crouching and charging another beam, aiming this time at the opposite section of the wall, and this time letting his flames flicker. He kept charging for a full five seconds this time, before unleashing a torrent of energy that blew the wall apart this time, exposing a changing room with a tumultuous crash.

This feeling of power was insane! Jet could feel the raw energy flowing through him, empowering his muscles, filling him with unlimited stamina, fuelling the fire he created. It felt so good!

"I am now Jet Xiao Rose," Jet muttered to himself, "a demi-god incarnate. None shall stand in my way. With Doomsayer and Darkening by my side, I will plunge my enemies into the abyss!" His last words were a shout, and he took flight, bathing in the unlimited power he held.

"Now, it's time to create a new weapon. One that I should only require if I need more power."

* * *

With the arrival of January 2nd came the first of classes of the New Year, and with it, Ruby's first taste of the third semester. While the first lectures had come with the usual reactions (Weiss furiously scribbling notes, Blake picking up her pen occasionally, and both Yang and Ruby trying not to doze off), there had been several unexpected changes. Combat training had changed from team games to random matches.

When Ruby arrived at the arena for one such session, she found LIJN tucked away in a corner of the seats, awaiting the start of Goodwitch's new system of combat. Ruby caught Jet's eye, and she waved, to which he waved back before gesturing to the ground, where Goodwitch stood.

The first set of teams were Weiss, Nora and Dove against Cardin, Sky and Jet. Knowing that they weren't on the best of terms, Ruby wondered briefly if Jet could beat his opponents despite having Cardin and Sky as teammates. Then, she remembered that he was an Angel of Darkness.

He wouldn't lose.

She watched as the aura indicators started up immediately. Jet's turned gold.

* * *

"You'd better not get in my way." Cardin growled as he and Jet stared down their opposition.

"Heh, very well." Jet muttered darkly to Cardin. ' _But I have a better use for you than as a teammate_.' he sent. Cardin stole another glance at him, before standing off to Jet's left. He grinned as he looked at his three opponents, feeling the darkness coil around him like a protective viper, ready to strike.

"Begin!" Goodwitch called.

Cardin and Sky took off towards their enemy. Jet, however, hung back, knowing he had a wicked grin on his face even as he watched the fools go, aiming his lance in his opponents' direction.

* * *

Three minutes in, Jet looked up at the aura indicators. Apart from a brief skirmish with Nora, he'd remained unscathed. His teammates were faring badly against the clearly superior team before them.

He noticed said teammates running back towards him. Cardin looked livid, Sky far from happy.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Cardin asked him, getting in Jet's face, unconcerned about their opponents. Jet took a step back and let out a quiet, but sinister, chuckle. His wings slowly outstretched.

"Cardin, Cardin, Cardin." Jet replied, chiding him even as he took a step back. "Always thinking about what's right in front of you."

Cardin immediately swung his fist in a brutal punch that would have knocked Jet flat on his back had it connected. Instead, Jet moved the minimum distance required to avoid it, and the fist glanced off his aura.

"With such weakness from the pair of you," Jet continued, "it isn't worth my time to keep you two as teammates." A gasp from the crowd at his words, and Jet felt his smile widen. "But you can serve me in another way."

He stepped between the steaming boys and faced his enemies, who weren't attacking, and Jet knew why. When he was like this, fear kept them away. And they never know what's coming. He pointed behind him at his two teammates with his shield arm.

"I think, you two will instead serve me as nothing more than sources of energy. Lock!" he called. He heard the struggles of the two behind him as well as more shocked outbursts and gasps as his two teammates collapsed. He felt the violet flames begin to stir around him even as his opponents watched. Even Nora, the crazy one, looked fearful. Hah. "Now, feed me, my sacrifices!"

Black mist started to flow from the locked ones into his chest, and the flames around him grew. The strength in his muscles grew even more, his lance grew longer and sharper, and even his shield curled as if in pleasure. He let out a harsh laugh, still growing in power, as he looked upon his two teammates behind him, locked, useless.

Helpless.

He turned just in time to see Weiss with her sword slicing towards him, and laughed even harder when he caught the blade without cutting himself and ripped it from her grasp with only a single tug. The shock on her face was like art to him.

"Know your place!" he yelled, curling his wings inwards, before unleashing the new and improved Red Pulse Exceed, blasting Weiss up in the air, and her aura instantly hit 0 from that single attack. He turned towards Dove, who attempted to run but was blasted by a laser from his lance, also taking him down with a single hit. He then turned to Nora, who looked petrified to him. He took a few steps towards her, and pointed his lance at the still girl. Blue energy gathered around the tip. There was no way she'd dodge this. Pathetic fools.

BLAM!

Jet fired a great blue beam at his target, obliterating her with a single-

"Stop!"

The smoke cleared to see Goodwitch, who had dived into the arena and shielded her student. Now she turned to Jet, a scowl on her face.

"Jet," she said in a quiet voice, but one with great anger behind it, "be mindful of the aura indicators. Miss Valkyrie's aura hit zero before you fired."

"My deepest apologies." Jet replied. "I got caught in the moment."

He extinguished the purple flames, seeing his aura bar return to green. He then flicked his hand at his locked teammates, and heard them flumping against the ground. They at least deserved being put in their place. Drained of energy to fuel his own.

"May I ask what you did to your teammates?" Goodwitch asked as a medical team arrived on the scene. Jet glanced over to see Cardin glaring at him, fiery anger plain to see.

"I simply shielded them from harm and drew on their strength to support my own." Jet answered smoothly. That was bending the truth, and he knew it.

When someone was locked, every conscious movement was instantly prevented. The result was total and utter paralysis. The aura that sealed them also sealed their own aura, preventing the victim from using their semblances or dust imbued body parts. This aura also prevented damage from the outside to the body, only allowing damage to the aura of the victim, and nothing else. Put simply, they were completely immobilized.

But Jet had acquired a new function from his locks, as a result of his status as an Angel of Darkness. A locked human would have their aura and energy drained from them, and said aura/energy would flow into him, replenishing his own. These were known as Delta Locks to those that studied this forbidden art of Deus, Jet being one of them.

Of course, this was a rather secretive art, as Goodwitch justified with her response.

"I have never seen such a… ruthless tactic." she replied in answer to his previous statement. Jet chuckled a little, but it was quiet such that only Goodwitch heard him.

"Ruthless? I call it a combination of combining our power and removing liabilities." Jet countered, before he turned and walked back to the seats.


	4. Chapter 4 - Conflicting Bonds

"That was both really cool, and really scary at the same time." Yang commented as Jet flew towards them in the stands, turning in mid-air and tucking his wings in to land perfectly in the empty seat next to Ruby. He felt her aura intermingle with his own as he looked up at Yang.

"Well, they were useless to me in that state." Jet explained. "And they had been bullying so many in the past, one of their victims being me, so I simply decided to lock them out of the fight and use their energy to sustain me in place of my own aura."

Yang leant back so Weiss, who was sitting next to her having just arrived herself, could see Jet. Her face was one of stern appraisal.

"There's just one thing I don't get." she remarked. "Why were you invulnerable throughout the fight?"

"Invulnerable?!" Both Yang and Ruby asked in shock, both girls looking to Jet for confirmation (Jet used his sixth sense to find Ruby).

"You explain." Jet shot at Weiss, who scowled at him a little before snapping her fingers to get the two girls' attention.

"When that aura bar turns gold," she pointed at the aura indicators, "the one with it is completely invincible. The aura can't decrease. Normally, that's only temporary, but with you," she turned her gaze onto Jet, "that was sustained for the entire fight. How?"

"Maybe I'm just so powerful now that you and your team can't hold a candle to me." Jet said, cockily. "After all, I did catch your blade and rip it out of your hand before blasting you with my Red Pulse, taking you out in one hit."

"That's the other thing. How did you send out a red pulse that powerful?" Weiss queried, keeping her gaze locked on him now as if searching for lies. "It gets stronger as you take damage, but there it was full strength, and you hadn't taken any damage yet."

"That part, I don't know." Jet replied honestly. "I'm surprised it didn't take me out with recoil damage. You know it deals damage to me proportional to about a third of what I dish out, and both sets of damage scale with how much I've already taken. Still," he said over a clash of steel that indicated the next fight had begun, "it shows that I've transcended what I was capable of before. I doubt anyone can defeat me now."

"It's true." Ruby said from behind him, and Jet felt her interlink their arms. "I've seen his power. Trust me, it's impossible to beat him."

"He can't be impossible to defeat, Ruby." Weiss snapped.

"Really?" Jet interrupted before Ruby could retort. "In that case, since actions speak louder than words, how about I show you how much power I have. All of RWBY and one other team of your choice, against me. Eight against one."

There was silence at his words.

* * *

"What were you thinking?!" Ruby asked Jet as she perched on Jet's bed in team LIJN's Dorm. The place looked much as it had done the last time Ruby had visited, the floating beds remaining a testament to the mysterious nature of the occupants.

Ruby was looked down at Jet, who was rummaging around in his chest of drawers underneath his bed for something. Aside from Izzet, who was napping in her own bed, they were alone.

"I'm testing my powers." Jet replied coolly, as he found what he was looking for, closing the drawer and then jumping up onto the bed so that they were face to face. "Besides, you and I both know RWBY and whichever team you ask help for won't succeed."

"It's not that!" Ruby shouted. Didn't he get it? This would probably reveal him as an Angel of Darkness! And if they were discovered, it would all be over! "You could be discovered!"

"We need to do this, Ruby." Jet said, in a darker voice now. "Otherwise, we'll-"

He was interrupted by a hand over his mouth, and he whirled around to see Izzet, fully awake, behind him. Ruby jumped in a fright, and nearly toppled off the bed.

' _Discover what?_ ' the telepath asked, eyes boring into both Ruby's and Jet's. Jet raised his right hand to push Izzet's hand off his mouth, and Ruby noticed her eyes widen. The dark jet ring on the middle finger of his right hand caught her attention, and she spotted the ring on Ruby's hand too.

Tears appeared in the telepath's eyes, and she vanished without another word.

"Why did-" Jet asked, spinning around to see where she'd gone, and then he seemed to realise something. "Shit!"

"What's wrong?!" Ruby asked, now panicked. What was going on?

"Go back to Team RWBY's dorm." Jet instructed. "Stay there, and don't follow me. This is something I have to do alone. Understand?" His eyes had developed a hard look again, and Ruby felt them piercing her own, as if they were staring into her soul.

"I-I understand. Come at seven-o-clock, if you can." Ruby replied. Jet nodded with a reassuring smile, and he too vanished. Ruby immediately jumped off the bed and made for the door. If Jet was like this, then there was a very serious reason, and while Ruby had a curious streak almost as large as her childish streak, she knew better than to question him.

* * *

Jet appeared out of thin air onto the same building he and Izzet had kissed together on Christmas Eve. True to his prediction, Izzet was there, her legs hanging off the side of the roof, her back to him.

' _For the record, it wasn't that hard to guess_.' Jet remarked telepathically, deciding to be courteous and use her method of communication. Izzet didn't respond, and Jet used this opportunity to approach her. He noticed her wiping her eyes, and this confirmed what he'd suspected.

' _What am I to you?'_ Izzet asked. Jet closed off the connection and thought. He knew what she wanted to hear, but unfortunately, he couldn't say it. If he did, it would destroy Ruby, and right now, he couldn't afford to lose either girl.

' _You're Izzet, a beautiful and wonderful girl. You're my partner, you're a loved one and you're my bonding partner for Asmo's blessing. That's who you are to me.'_ Jet replied.

 _'In short, a tool.'_ Izzet shot back, turning to face him _. 'A tool that you maintain and repair and love, then discard when it's broken or when you don't need it!'_ She stood up and faced him. ' _You love me only because I keep your light powers!'_ Anger replaced sadness as she approached him, hands balled into fists. ' _Because I helped you! You only love Ruby right now because she's more USEFUL to you!'_

Jet didn't hesitate. As soon as Izzet neared striking range, he slapped her across the face, the force of the blow sending the lithe girl toppling to the floor, her sharp exhale the only sign of pain. He was full of disbelief now. Did she really think for a second that he thought of her as that?

' _Do not ever,'_ Jet sent furiously as he knelt before her, eyes boring into her own as she propped herself up on an elbow, ' _insinuate that I don't care about you or Ruby! You know I still love you, and wouldn't think of ever dumping you like trash!'_

' _Only so I can serve you as-_ ' Izzet sent, but she was interrupted by Jet, who had grabbed her and kissed her. He felt her resistance slacken as he held her, unceasing, not entering her mouth but remaining there.

' _Never think my words empty._ ' Jet replied. ' _I concede, part of it is the bond we share, but most if not all is devoted to my love for you. Never, ever forget that.'_

He didn't need to say anything else. Activating his time stop, he took flight from the building, ending it when he was a good distance away, hidden by colourless clouds. He hoped Izzet would understand. Even before Ruby, his main objective came first, lest neither of his lovers see the light of day ever again. With that in mind, he dived towards the dorm rooms, where Ruby had asked him to meet her.


	5. Chapter 5 - Taken by the Darkness

Jet walked towards team RWBY's dorm at exactly seven o' clock, as Ruby had requested. He extinguished the purple flames around him as he approached. He'd never admit it to anyone, but he was starting to become addicted to the absolute power he held. He smiled to himself. This time, Flux would be completely destroyed by him.

He stopped at the edge of the corridor where he knew Ruby would be waiting. Thinking. He now had the power to harm Flux, but that was a double edged sword, as he knew he could be harmed in turn by Flux. Ruby would also be completely helpless against her. There again, Flux often had minions in the form of the Grimm. Perhaps she should take the majority of them out while he conserved energy for Flux.

He pushed these thoughts out of his head. Jet could worry about such details later. He knocked on the door, and upon hearing the little 'come in!' from Ruby (damn it, even her voice is _cute_ ) he opened the door and closed it behind him using his scroll.

He found a happy Ruby sitting on the edge of their floating bed with her legs dangling off the edge of it, her bare feet daringly near Weiss' pristine sheets and pillows. Smiling at this, he took a run up and bounded up onto Ruby's bed, and felt it bob a little from the impact. Ruby caught his eye, and Jet detected something… else? A new look in her eyes, it seemed.

"Where are the others?" Jet asked, still trying to fathom what this look meant, and covering it by trying to sort out his hair.

"Weiss had to go back home quickly, Blake and Yang are out at the pub and they've already rented a hotel because Yang intends to get 'totally smashed'." Ruby explained, holding up air quotes at the last remark.

"Figures." Jet replied, giving up on his hair. "So what did you call me for that requires an actual meeting time, sweetheart?" he asked. "Something bothering you?"

"There is." Ruby replied. "And you're the only one that can help me. Are you okay?"

"Fine." Jet replied with a smile. "Izzet just had a flashback of a painful time. I just needed to comfort her."

Ruby crawled across the bed to where Jet was cross legged and pushed him down without reply, hugging and kissing him. In Jet's mind, it all clicked into place. It was especially clear when Ruby took off the pyjama top she was wearing.

"To coin a phrase I used before, you want me to finally 'fall to my darker desires'." Jet whispered to his lover, smiling sensually when Ruby nodded, blushing as he pressed his arms against her back, kissing her softly.

"Yes." was all Ruby whispered.

"Let me do something first then. Just in case." he said, and pushed Ruby off, sitting up. Raising an arm, he pointed at the door, each of the walls, the floor and the ceiling. Purple energy danced across these surfaces, yet did not create light. "This is a dark field." Jet explained to the confused Ruby. "Nothing can leave here, and nothing can enter. That includes sound and people. If someone were to open the door, they see nothing but this dorm. Think of it as an alternate dimension."

"That's… useful." Ruby said after a pause. Jet turned to the topless girl and laid next to her, before putting his hands on her breasts. Each tiny mound was like putty in his hands, and he slowly massaged them, earning little squeaks and moans from Ruby. He kissed her again, then rolled her onto her back, making sure to give her every bit of pleasure he could.

With each soft sound from Ruby, Jet felt himself getting harder, and the urges that threatened to overwhelm him back at Theyl Nocturne had returned. He resisted for all he was worth, but knew he would succumb eventually as he continued to massage Ruby's breasts.

Jet then moved a hand down to her lower body, and upon feeling the wetness, didn't have to turn his head to know Ruby was incredibly turned on. He smiled at her, letting her know he knew, and saw her blush still harder.

"Can you take your clothes off?" Ruby asked. Jet obeyed, removing his jacket and undershirt along with his belt and black trousers, and finally his boxers, leaving his six-inch boner out in the open. He then laid down again, and watched as Ruby kissed him before her hands started to explore his body, clenching admittedly small but iron hard muscles.

"Can I make a confession?" Jet asked her as she kissed his chest, close to where the mechanical heart was. The 'mmm?' from Ruby gave her ascent. "That time, when we were close to doing this, I wasn't ready."

"You weren't ready?" Ruby whispered, seemingly forgetting that no sound could escape. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"I didn't want to disappoint you." Jet replied honestly. "It's also why I gave you the strongest orgasm I could, so that you'd be tired out and wouldn't do anything to me."

There was a pause, then Ruby came up to eye level.

"Jet, if you're not okay with this we can stop." Ruby said firmly.

"I'm okay now." Jet replied, hugging her, but she didn't hug back.

"Promise? You're totally fine with all of this?"

"I promise."

Ruby wrapped her arms around him and kissed him passionately, Jet immediately thrusting his tongue into her mouth and fighting hers for supremacy. At the same time, he slowly massaged her back, and felt Ruby do the same. Realising that he was the one in control again, he disengaged from his invasion of Ruby's mouth and instead took one of her hard nipples in his mouth, massaging the other supple breast with his left hand.

His right moved to her core, and Jet stretched outward with his sensory semblance to find Ruby had taken off her pyjama bottoms. Smiling into Ruby's mound, he tickled around the entrance and heard Ruby groan.

"Stop teasing me!" she exclaimed after a minute of this treatment. Jet released Ruby from his caress and shifted downward to her nether regions. He gazed upon the unprotected, clean shaven, little sex of his partner, and felt his mind go into overdrive.

' _Ruby_.' Jet thought. ' _I'm… succumbing to my urges_.'

Ruby only smiled at him, and he latched his mouth onto her wetness. Plunging his tongue like a flagpole into unchartered territory, he tasted her as she moaned even louder. She was completely wet and slippery on the inside, and her juices tasted strange yet sweet, reminding Jet of a candy Izzet had given him, oddly enough.

He stretched out even further and angled upwards, until he found a rough spot within the smoothness. Hearing Ruby gasp, he immediately made this spot his target and ran his tongue over it, twirling and lapping, until Ruby's walls began to tighten and the girl herself screamed out. Realising with a jolt what was about to happen, he retracted his tongue and covered Ruby's entrance with his mouth.

Ruby came, and juices sprayed into his mouth and down his throat, coming thick and fast like they did before. Resisting his gag reflex using all of his willpower, Jet maintained this position until he'd drunk all of his lover's cum. It was sweeter than before, and it felt similar to water now. He released Ruby and wiped his mouth to see her looking up and panting. He moved up to eye level and turned her head towards him. She smiled sheepishly.

"Did you swallow it?" she asked. Jet grinned, and searched frantically for something to say.

"Can't have you wetting the bed, can I?" he replied, and silently praised his quick tongue, for more than just that comeback. Ruby smiled nervously at him.

"Can I do something to you now?" she asked.

"Be my guest." Jet replied, and she slid down the bed and took his boner in her hand. Jet repressed a shiver as she engulfed it with her mouth, running her tongue up and down his shaft. She was making wet, smacking sounds, and Jet felt himself stiffen at the noise. Her mouth was warm, and her stolen breaths tickled as she slowly allowed it to go deeper into her throat. Jet moaned despite himself.

As Ruby continued to do her deed, Jet felt his wings, which had been tucked against his back, flutter a little. It wasn't until he felt the liquid making its way through his boner that he understood why, but upon realising, he quickly bopped Ruby on the head, and she came away, panting a little as she looked into his eyes. The agony of being denied release was dreadful, but Jet remained resolute.

"D-did I do something wrong!?" Ruby asked worriedly, and Jet shook his head with a smile.

"Problem was that you were doing everything right." Jet replied, cooling off. "If that had continued a couple of seconds longer…" He trailed off. "Still though, it prepared me for this."

"For what?" Ruby asked, still a little nervous. Such an innocent little thing, wanting sexual acts but not knowing the final result of her actions. Either that, or she was acting very coy right now.

Jet spun her so that her entrance faced him and propped her bare legs on either side of him, before positioning himself near said entrance. Ruby's eyes widened as she realised what was about to happen, but then relaxed.

"And now," Jet said, "time for the darkness to take you, Ruby Rose."

"Do it, Jet!" Ruby replied, almost pleadingly. Jet obliged, and slowly entered her. While he didn't have the biggest member in the world, Ruby was satisfyingly tight and snug around him. As he pushed, eliciting moans from them both, he met a small resistance.

It seemed Ruby had noticed too, as she met his eyes again and nodded tentatively. Jet forced inwards all the way, and felt her resistance break. Ruby screamed in pain, and Jet held her close as tears reached her eyes and blood could be felt coming out. She hugged Jet tightly as he remained deep within her, unrelenting but comforting. In that moment, they were connected, mind, body and soul.

"We're no longer virgins anymore, Ruby." Jet whispered. "And holy shit, you are tight."

"I'm not tight." Ruby pouted. "You're just big and-"

Jet silenced her by moving in and out, slowly and carefully, not wanting to hurt her. Ruby leaned back, clutching her own breasts and moaning. Taking this as a sign that he was doing it right, he picked up speed, watching as Ruby shifted from side to side, and only stopping when he grabbed her hips.

"Faster… faster." she moaned. Obeying her command, Jet sped up, ignoring the nagging pain in his own hips. He slowly increased his speed until he was going at full pace, and making Ruby squeak with pleasure at each thrust. She was yelling his name now, and thank Asmodeus he'd put up the dark field. That actually reminded him, as his hips started to burn, he was an Angel of Darkness.

Feeling that same darkness around him, he started to numb the burn and increase speed again, until he was thrusting five times a second. Ruby was flat out screaming his name now, but thankfully it was pleasure, and not pain, that guided her voice now. He felt his climax swiftly approach.

"Jet. I'm… I'm COMIIINNG!" Ruby shrieked before her juices came in a vicious torrent, absolutely soaking him. Jet's wings stretched to their fullest extent and purple flames danced around him as he was splashed again by his lover's cum. Shivering with the power he felt, he blasted her soaking sex one last time.

"Me too, RUBY!" Jet roared, before he felt himself release once, twice, three times into Ruby, before he crumpled and fell next to her, the purple energy that was fuelling him vanishing, his member exiting Ruby with a soft 'shplot'. Ruby rolled to face him and they kissed, this kiss burning with passion for her, not even paying attention to the semen now flowing out of her entrance.

* * *

They had remained like that for a full five minutes, each lying in perfect ecstasy. Jet knew even as he felt this closeness and intimacy that it would be one of the last times he ever felt this kind of pleasure from the one he loved in this way.

He held a now limp, pyjama-clad Ruby, and she smiled sleepily at him before closing her eyes and drifting off in his arms. Jet looked out of the window, and felt a tear reach his eye.

"For you, Ruby." Jet muttered, dispelling the dark field, and with it, eliminating all smells and liquids that would have given them away. "I will destroy her, so that you can live. Even if it takes my own life."


	6. Chapter 6 - Dread

Jet settled into his own bed in LIJN's dorm room. He'd met Lilac and Izzet, who'd seemed marginally more cheerful, and had apologised. Nouvelle, according to Lilac, had gone with Blake and Yang, and he had groaned inwardly at the news.

From experience, Nouvelle had a massive tolerance for alcohol, but the hangover she suffered following a boozing night normally turned her into a moody, stuck-up brat. He'd learned to put up with it, but it had not been easy.

His own tolerance was admittedly pathetic in comparison. While, yes, Jet could handle a couple of drinks, any more and he knew he'd end up flat on his face, or completely insane. Now was a time when he could ill afford to be drunk like that, for many reasons. There again, he WAS underage.

Still though, Jet sighed contentedly. Ruby had gotten her wish. He'd taken her purity, and she'd taken his. Granted, they were still illegal, but Jet knew that it was hard to detect unless someone actually poked their hand in there and felt. He was pretty sure that wasn't going to happen.

There was only one other danger that Jet cared about.

Pregnancy.

Jet smiled to himself. He already had a safeguard for that. Though the thought of that safeguard also brought tears to his eyes once more. It would be painful when he implemented it.

His thoughts began to slacken, and after getting into a more comfortable position, Jet drifted off to sleep.

* * *

The first week of the third semester passed without incident. Jet, for the most part, copied Ruby in her demeanour, trying hard to stay awake through Port's lectures, actually paying attention during Goodwitch's training, and more. It seemed as though the rest of his team took Weiss' point of view on the lectures, however, with Jet seemingly the sole one not hurriedly scribbling things down.

When the weekend arrived, Ruby expected Jet to back down on his challenge. He did not, however, and the four of them decided to ask the aid of Team JNPR, scheduling the brawl for next weekend.

Ruby wondered why such a show of force was necessary, but the upcoming match had attracted attention. Many other students had heard of Jet's prowess in combat, and upon hearing his challenge, started muttering to each other about it in the corridors. Some, like Ruby, thought that he was undefeatable, while others found the idea of a single trainee defeating eight ludicrous.

None knew, however, about what he was.

What Ruby was.

They were both connected to their worst enemy; the Grimm. She and Jet shared a bond with the dark god presiding over them, a bond that made them anathema to the humans that surrounded them. Ruby knew what would happen should they find out. They'd be shunned and feared, excluded from society, banished to the realms of the Grimm, in the no-man's-land between the four kingdoms, and Theyl Nocturne.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

Ruby brought herself back to reality to find Weiss right in front of her face. They were sitting in the library, and Ruby's thoughts of the homework she'd received from Professor Port had completely disintegrated. Attempting to focus, Ruby missed the next thing Weiss said, and was about to ask her to repeat it when she felt herself being shaken from behind by the shoulders.

Snapping to attention, she found Blake to be the culprit.

"I'm awake, Blake." she groaned. It had been a typical ritual: whenever her and her team had studied in the library, Blake had rapidly become point guard for her or Yang falling asleep, and would always shake them awake.

Except, Ruby had been wide awake this time.

"Pay attention to me then, dolt!" Weiss shouted, causing Ruby to jump and several students to glare at her from the computer section of the library. "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing." Ruby said, looking down at the open book in front of her on Grimm studies.

"Bullshit." came Yang's muffled voice to her left, and she looked to discover she had her head on the desk, though her right hand was pointing upwards. Her sister looked up into her eyes, and Ruby recognised the red welts on her cheeks as the book she'd had her head pushed against. "You're not bouncing around like Zwei and you haven't been eating as many cookies."

"How is Zwei?" Ruby asked, trying to change the subject.

"He's fine. Back with Qrow. Now what's wrong?" Blake replied. Now all eyes were on Ruby, and she looked down again. If only she had Jet's way with his words, then she could probably pass it off.

But this was a secret she had to keep. Or they'd lose it all.

"I'm worried about the fight against Jet." Ruby lied, looking at each of her teammates in turn.

"Scared we're gonna beat him up too badly?" Yang grinned. Good. At least she bought it.

"I think it'll be the other way around." Ruby replied.

"How?" her sister pressed. "It's eight against one."

"He's definitely got some new moves." Weiss mused. "You saw when he took Myrtenaster from me and defeated me in one hit." She blushed a little at that. "I'm not that fragile!" she hissed at Yang, who was trying her best to hide her giggles.

"I know what it is." Ruby said, drawing the attention back to her. "It's some kind of shield semblance."

"Go on." Blake encouraged.

"It's this purple fire that surrounds him." Ruby explained. "It's like a second aura that surrounds him, but it allows his attacks to act as if he has low aura, which is why they're so powerful."

"That makes sense, actually." Blake commented, and all eyes turned to her. "If all his attacks are based on his primary source of aura, then they'd be that strong because he's poured most of it into this 'shield' that's protecting him. It probably explains why he's considered invulnerable," she tilted her head to Weiss, "because his original aura can't decrease while those flames are up and taking the damage for him. Do you know how tough this shield is to break?"

"Very." Ruby replied, amazed that this had shaken her teammates off. "I fought against him once, and I hit those flames loads of times." She pouted a little. "I couldn't tell if I was doing any damage, but it felt like I was hitting a rock every time.

"Leave it to Jet to be both intimidating in battle and powerful too." Weiss muttered.

"Can't we just hold him down and whale on him?" Yang suggested.

"Red Pulse." Ruby replied almost immediately. "Close range shock-wave that now takes Weiss down in one hit."

"And probably would do the same to you." Weiss added. Yang lowered her head, now thinking.

"Is there any way to beat this guy?" she asked herself.

Ruby knew the answer to that question. His victory was guaranteed.


	7. Chapter 7 - Darkness Incarnate

Ruby sat in her dorm room, alone. Tomorrow was the day of RWBY and JNPR's fight with Jet, Angel of Darkness. She was on her bunk, in a state of contemplation on the floating bed.

She felt it move, and turned to see Jet had appeared behind her. Her angel was wearing a new black long-sleeve jacket with a hood, and matching dark jeans. His pale hands and face shone in the sunset.

Jet. The one she loved the most. The one who'd taken her purity as she'd offered it to him. The one who loved her. Who'd been corrupted in the same way by her. His emerald eyes met Ruby's silver ones, and not for the first time, she wondered if he knew what she was feeling on the inside.

"Thinking about the battle tomorrow?" Jet asked. "Maybe about how to beat me?"

"You're impossible to beat." Ruby said softly. That statement both pleased and frustrated her at the same time. "You told me yourself."

"That's not true, actually." Jet replied. "I said I was immortal and invulnerable, but only when I had my powers. In fact, if I don't play carefully, I'm certain to lose."

"What do you mean?" Ruby asked.

"Remember you're my Fulcrum." Jet responded with a grin. "If you fall unconscious, I do too. If your aura is gone, my protection is destroyed as well. My connection with you. That's your team's only chance."

"Oh, right." Ruby said, allowing herself to smile a little. Now she got it. If Jet attacked her, he'd be essentially hurting himself as well, and if she was out, those purple flames would probably be gone too.

"Bingo." Jet continued. "And because you move so dang fast, you'll probably be one of the first ones I have to fight. That doesn't lower my attack power, but it does mean I have to dodge six or seven teammates while I take them down one or two at a time, or be taken down. And my most powerful attacks require me to stay still." As he said it, a knocking sound could be heard on the door.

"I'll get it." Ruby said, and hopped off the bed and walked to the door. She opened it to find Professor Ozpin, who wore his usual warm smile, one that was both unreadable and pleasant to see.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything." he said in his calm demeanour. "I was wondering if you knew where I might find Jet. He wasn't at his team's room."

"He's here." Ruby heard Jet call from behind her, and she looked back to see him hopping off her bed and moving towards her. She moved aside as he met Ozpin.

"Ah, there you are." Ozpin greeted, his smile widening a little. "I wondered if we could take a stroll together. There's several things I am curious about."

* * *

"So this is the place." Ozpin remarked.

He and Jet were sat atop Sunset Hill, which boasted the glorious view it held from which its name was derived at this time. Jet's wings were outstretched, and he bathed in the warmth of the sun coupled with the chill of the air.

Jet said nothing. He was waiting for Ozpin to ask the question himself, as this was the reason they came out sometimes. He admired the old professor. He had the right idea, taking him in despite him being dangerous for the purpose of study and learning. Still, while he had been truthful so far, today, he would have to be careful. One misstep would lead to their discovery.

"Tell me, have you heard of the tale of Asmodeus?" Ozpin asked. Jet tensed as he looked into his eyes. Not good.

"Remind me, please sir." Jet replied, deciding to buy a little time while he planned out his movements in this conversation.

"It tells of one god, of all elements, splitting into two gods of opposite elements, light and dark. Neither could destroy each other, so they created beings to fight in their stead. But you are born of both, which theoretically makes you a child of both." Ozpin explained.

"I remember now." Jet said. "Yes, I would be considered a child of Asmodeus."

"I will not beat around the bush." Ozpin stated. "I know about the two choices you have."

So much for deceiving him.

"You're wondering if I've already chosen?" Jet asked.

"I know you've chosen." Ozpin replied. "You are an Angel of Darkness."

Shoot. He knew. But wait. If he knew…

"Judging by the fact that I'm not in custody," Jet stated, "I'm guessing there's something preventing you from doing so. Maybe a query about my purpose?" Ozpin's eyes narrowed.

"Precisely." he responded, now staring into Jet's eyes. "Who is your Fulcrum? Why did you do it?"

Jet hissed at the directness of his questions. If Ozpin knew he was an Angel, then he also knew about how powerful he was now.

"Ruby is my Fulcrum." Jet replied. "And my purpose is nothing less than defeating Flux, who is also an Angel of Darkness."

"I suspected as much." Ozpin replied. "You don't need to worry. I am the only one who knows. And while I am not in full control of the school at current, I will make sure it remains that way."

Was Jet missing something? Surely Ozpin, the one who took great care of all of his… students-

Ah. Jet understood now. Not only was he one of said students, but he was Ozpin's only way of destroying Flux. So it would be reasonable if he hid his status from the public. Jet stood up, and turned to face Ozpin.

"I guess you want to see my new form and abilities." Jet said.

"That would be preferable, yes." Ozpin replied, also standing up.

"I guess I can show you some. The rest, you'll see when I beat RWBY and JNPR." Jet explained, before taking a fighting stance, the purple flames surging around him in a demonstration of his power, Doomsayer and Darkening appearing in his hands.

* * *

Ruby closed her eyes as she listened to the slow, sleepy breaths of Yang. Tomorrow was the day when Jet would demonstrate his power. Defeating eight people on his own, four of them her team.

Ruby curled up tighter. This shouldn't be how it should be. Team RWBY was one of the best, next to LIJN and the teams of later years. They should be unstoppable, and they were unstoppable against the Nevermore, Torchwick, his robot, the White Fang.

But they'd be facing a living demi-god, essentially, one who was virtually impossible to beat. His only weakness was her, so how could-

An idea suddenly struck her, as Jet's words echoed in the back of her mind.

 _"If you fall unconscious, I do too. If your aura is gone, my protection is destroyed as well. My connection with you. That's your team's only chance."_

Falling unconscious. Could she enlist Yang's help? If Jet fell unconscious, then he would instantly lose to them. He was practically invulnerable otherwise.

She shuddered at the thought of willingly taking a hit on the head, and it would need to be hard to knock her out. But if she could do this, Jet would lose.

There again, did she want him to lose?

That brought her back to the question; why was he doing this? What would destroying them and JNPR do? Was he showing off for someone?

She groaned in frustration. Why didn't he tell her? There were still many secrets between them, and Jet was becoming harder and harder to probe by the minute. Ruby could only assume that a major secret he'd been keeping was drawing close, and that she'd find out eventually anyway.

"What's up, sis?" a whisper came from beside her bed. Ruby opened her eyes to discover Yang standing beside her bed.

"It's nothing." Ruby said, smiling a false smile, but Yang grimaced.

"You're a terrible liar." Yang replied. "You can talk to me, remember?"

Ruby considered. Maybe it would be better to tell her sister. There again, she wasn't sure how Yang would react.

"I want to know more about why Jet does what he does." Ruby answered truthfully. "He's keeping something, or maybe some things, secret from me, and I want to know what, or at least, why he's keeping them from me. Sometimes he agrees with me on certain things, and others he immediately closes up and won't let me in."

Yang hopped quietly onto Ruby's bed and leaned against the wall, keeping her eyes on Ruby. Ruby maintained her gaze on her sister.

"Well, I don't know what he's keeping," Yang said, "but I might know the reason why. Do you remember when Dad fell, how I didn't tell you until you were twelve?" At Ruby's nod, she continued. "I didn't want to put such a hurtful thing on you from any earlier age, so I waited. I think Jet's doing that too. He's waiting for a moment to tell you, because right now isn't the right time, for whatever reason, and telling you now will only make things more difficult."

"Do you really think so?" Ruby asked, unsure. That was a concept she hadn't considered in all her time with Jet.

"Yeah." Yang responded, putting an arm around Ruby, and she laid her head on her sister's shoulder. "But even more than that, you might actually be hurting him by pressing him. Guys like him don't keep fucked-up secrets, like if he's cheating on you, or has some dark past, but even if he does," she raised her voice a little at Ruby's look, "either he'll tell you or he'll have a very good reason for doing it and keeping it from you. I don't see him as the kind of person who would hurt you like that."

"I… didn't think of it like that." Ruby said, now feeling a little downtrodden. Did she really have that little faith in him? He'd given her good reason to trust him, and while yes, he still had this air of mysteriousness and greater purpose, he wouldn't leave Ruby behind in his wake. It made her feel sick inside to doubt him like this. "Y-Yang? Can you stay with me tonight?"

"Of course, sis." Yang replied, and she sunk under the covers and put her arms around Ruby, who snuggled into her sister's protective and warm embrace. Right now, as she drifted off to sleep, she just needed someone to hug.


	8. Chapter 8 - Ultimate Power

Jet stretched his wings, his lance and shield appearing on his arms. Ruby watched as the purple flames flared up next. She had her game plan but he… but he…

Ruby looked down on the hands that were holding Crescent Rose. She was shaking. Shaking because of what was before her, in the arena.

She looked up to see a grin on their opponent's face. The aura meter beside him turned gold. Purple energy gathered around the lance and shield as the Angel of Darkness stared them down. The tense atmosphere of themselves and the crowd could be cut with a knife. Their eyes met.

He crouched and pointed his lance at her, before giving his head a slight tilt towards his left wing. Realising that he was waiting for her, she looked to her teammates. Weiss, Blake and Yang met her gaze and nodded in unison.

This was it.

"Go!" she yelled, and immediately triggered her semblance, firing bullet after bullet in her haste to reach Jet. He fired, a great beam flying in her direction, and she immediately dodged to the right as her teammates rushed him. Jet immediately thrust at Yang, knocking her flying backwards but Weiss and Blake slashed him as they passed, the flames growing as if in anger, though the aura indicator didn't fall at all.

Ruby checked Yang and saw her getting up, eyes red. Her aura was at 25% from that single hit.

"Checkmate!" she commanded, and her teammates responded, Weiss and Blake repeating their slashing attacks on Jet, watching as he swung his lance, but to no avail, as this manoeuvre was too fast for him. Unfortunately to Ruby's despair, Jet's aura did not drop from any hit, and after the tenth pass, she saw the tell-tale charging of the Red Pulse. "Stop!" Ruby yelled, and to her relief, the duo avoided a potentially lethal (in terms of this fight) blast which shook the ground.

"Sunflower!" Ruby shouted, and she ran forwards with Yang. Unlike her tactic before, this was all about damage being dealt, though she at least had partial protection from Jet's attacks in that he would hurt himself if he damaged her. As they reached each other, Jet's lance parried Crescent Rose as his shield deflected Yang's first punch, though he was forced to fall back under Yang's brutal set of punches and Ruby's deft slashes, despite not being harmed by them.

"Enough!" Jet roared, and punched the ground after blocking Yang's second set of punches. A shockwave blasted forth, blowing them up into the air and backwards, making Ruby land on her back a good 100 meters away, but Yang flew up high. Ruby noticed Jet crouch, aiming his lance at Yang, and she knew what was coming!

"Jaune, switch and stop that attack!" Ruby called desperately, as the lance glowed with sparkling energy.

"On it!" he yelled back. Weiss and Blake grabbed Yang and dragged her to safety as she hit the ground, Nora hitting Jet's lance down just as he fired, causing the beam to blast harmlessly into the dirt, before Pyrrha followed up with a brutal chain of attacks on Jet that culminated with him being knocked up into the air, before being slammed into the ground by Nora.

As her team gathered around her, she watched as Jet got up only to be punched in the face by Ren before being subjected to another series of chops and kicks before being pushed back even further.

And yet, Jet's aura didn't fall. But something was happening. His flames were steadily changing colour from purple to red. Was it possible that he wasn't completely invulnerable?

Another massive shockwave was sent by Jet punching the ground again, blowing away the team around him. He got up, but he looked far from happy now.

"Impressive so far." he said. "But I wonder how long you'll last without a leader."

He pointed at Ruby, and her heart jumped into her throat. No. Not that move.

"Lock!" Jet called, and Ruby made to run at him, but she found herself rooted to the spot as she was surrounded by that red aura. Her muscles were instantly paralyzed. Ruby couldn't move! Jet grinned, crimson red flames surrounding him now. He pointed at someone else behind Ruby as well, and she heard Jaune shout as he too was locked.

"Ruby? Ruby!" Yang yelled as she ran over, forgetting her attention on Jet, mirroring the others as they turned to their respective leaders, no-one focussing on Jet.

Ruby saw his smile reappear as he crouched and aimed in her direction, his lance gathering power behind Yang, who was grasping Ruby's arm, trying to move it. It was useless, as while Ruby could feel her touch, she had no success either, and Jet was building up more power behind her.

 _'Move, Yang! MOVE!'_ Ruby screamed desperately as Jet neared full power, judging by the way he was now shining with energy. Was that Jet's plan? Yang carried on trying to break her out of the lock, uselessly, unaware of the great danger behind her.

"Yang, watch out!" Weiss called out just as Jet fired a huge beam straight at them, the size of it comparable to a shining blue freight train, and they were on the tracks. Ruby couldn't even cower as Yang turned and yelled out in surprise before it hit them.

And yet, as Yang swore as she was knocked flying backwards by the blast, she didn't feel any damage to her aura at all. As the last flash of blue light shot past her, nothing changed. She was undamaged, unmoved, still unfeeling. Yang's aura hit zero.

Blake and Ren flew at Jet from different angles, intending to sweep past and deal damage to the red flames surrounding him. Her hope swiftly vanished as the Red Pulse charged, cleverly concealed by the flickering flames. Once again she tried to cry out, to warn them, but the lock placed on her denied this desperate action, and she was forced to watch as both of her teammates in this fight were both blasted back, annihilated in a single attack.

Another two down. Only Weiss, Pyrrha and Nora remained.

"The most skilled." Jet said aloud. "Now, I will show you true strength!"

The red flames around him grew until they were a bloody blaze surrounding her lover. Jet's eyes flashed scarlet as shadows gathered around him. Ruby had seen this before. But what was coming out? Phantom? Abyss? Venom? But as she watched, a new shape formed within the red and purple darkness before them.

"Roaring forth from the deepest reaches of hell, the one who bears homage to the cruellest darkness of them all! He who controls pain, fear, despair, and feeds on such as if they were naught but sustenance! I command you, rise, my avatar of the shadows in reverse, Phantom Mark 2; Dark Aegis!" he roared, and a new battle cry could be heard, a screeching, hatred filled bellow that sounded akin to a bird's cry were it not for the deepness of the tone.

The shadows vanished, and Ruby's jaw would have fallen open had it not been for the lock. Another suit of armour was now here.

Jet's new suit was similar to Jet Black Phantom, but it was a deep crimson colour, and looked more jagged, steel spike designs criss-crossing the chest plate and armoured leggings. There were crystals embedded into some of the designs, and a closer look revealed they were rubies. Behind Jet, attached to his back was a metallic circular wire that intertwined in a pentacle design. It was glowing with red energy.

In Jet's left hand, he held a new weapon. The spiral design of his lance was still present, but a massive two-handed great sword now resided in Jet's hands. It too glowed with a red aura, menacingly, as if searching for a victim. Ruby could practically feel the evil-ness of that sword, and yet she felt almost… pleasant, as if it was like Crescent Rose. So even his Dharc armour had been empowered.

Jet thrust the great sword into the ground, embedding it into the ground. With a keening scream of the air, as if even the air had cried out in pain, red lightning bolts flashed across the ground, causing all three of his opponents to release their own screams as they were touched by the bolts. Black aura surrounded them as Weiss, Nora and Pyrrha's aura indicators dropped to 0 in a heartbeat.

"The black sword, Soulrender." Jet commented. "Anathema to any living being. With my power, no one can stand in the way. Any enemy of mine will be crushed!"

It was over, and Ruby knew it, as he walked towards her. There was a black flash as the sword slashed her locked form, and she felt her aura hit 0, signalling the end. Another flash, and Ruby fell to the ground, unlocked but defeated.

Even as she tasted the bitter defeat, she'd known it was coming. Ruby knew about how powerful Jet was now. It was stupid to think she could beat her soulmate, even though she was connected to him through their bond. As Ruby felt herself being lifted into Jet's unarmoured arms, she wondered if there was anyone that could beat him aside from Flux.

* * *

From their office, Ozpin switched off the monitor that had displayed the fight Jet had had with teams RWBY and JNPR. Despite the fact that Jet was something that should be shunned and cast away in an instant, his power level was now at such a level that humanity could ill afford to lose him, at a time like this. While he still had control.

"Something isn't right." Goodwitch said from beside him. She'd come to watch the fight after the moment when Jet's 'aura' had turned red.

"Hmm?" Ozpin queried. While he knew that Glynda was no fool, he also remembered his promise to Jet. The Angel of Darkness would remain in the shadows with his fulcrum until their duty was done, and he would make sure of it.

"How did he get so powerful over the Christmas holidays?" Goodwitch asked. "It's like he no longer needs any skill, purely because his power enables him to defeat anyone in one attack."

"Perhaps a new semblance?" Ozpin suggested, though he knew this was a lie. "Jet does have the ability to copy others."

"What single semblance gives the user complete invulnerability and titanic strength?" Goodwitch asked, giving him her classic piercing stare over her frown.

"Nothing I know of, yet." Ozpin replied, clasping his hands in his lap. "We need to find a weakness, so that he still has the need to improve, however. Any thoughts?"

"He seems slow," Goodwitch mused, "perhaps a speed based opponent, or one with enough power to break through that fire that surrounds him. It doesn't seem invulnerable."

"True, but the main threat is his power." Ozpin reminded her. "Whoever challenges him will have to bear in mind that one hit means losing, be it from his long range attacks or the weapons he uses at close range."

"This reminds me of a phenomenon that occurred once before." Goodwitch said. "Someone gained this power practically overnight, and in fact was using the same weapons that Jet uses now."

Ozpin felt a small jolt at her words. He'd have to nip this in the bud quickly, it seemed.

"Wasn't he exiled for embracing the Grimm?" Ozpin asked. "If Jet is the same case, surely he would suffer the same fate upon getting anywhere near Vale. I don't believe Jet would do that."

"I am not accusing him of anything." Goodwitch replied sternly. "I am only noticing a connection."

"In any case, we need a way to stimulate further growth of his abilities." Ozpin said quickly. "I think I have an idea."

* * *

Jet landed in front of the dorm rooms, alone.

Purple flames still flickered around him. And they felt so good. _He_ felt so good.

JNPR and RWBY. Two of the strongest teams around in their year.

Utterly decimated by him.

Jet smiled to himself. If truth be told, he was holding back, but this power he now held was insane! It felt so glorious! None of them stood a chance against him now. Flux, her Grimm army, none of them would survive his wrath!

He couldn't help but chuckle quietly to himself. No one could challenge him. This was evil, but he didn't care anymore. Nothing mattered now, except saving this world from Flux's machinations.

"Hey, Freak!" a familiar voice yelled from behind him. Extinguishing his flames, he turned to see the entirety of Team CRDL, just before Cardin punched him full in the face, the force of the blow knocking him down and breaking his nose with a sickening crack.

Jet got up and backed up a couple of steps as he stared down the four bullies, ignoring the pain from his shattered nose. He focussed his mind and pictured his nose being repaired. The flames flickered into life, and his nose was reformed. Jet inhaled through it to check that it was still working, before focussing on the bullies again.

"You can't do anything to me, Cardin." Jet said, with a sneer, fully flaring the violet fire that danced around him protectively. "Tell me, do you want to be sent to the hospital facilities?"

"You're just talk." Cardin replied. "I bet those bitches you fought let you win. Eight on one, what a joke."

"I'm not going to try convincing you." Jet replied. "So why come and bug me if you stand no chance against me? Did I hurt your pride a little? Maybe prove your uselessness?"

Cardin swung again at Jet, and this time, he let Cardin knock him down. The punch to the forehead caused a bruise to instantly take hold, but once again, he got up and pushed his hair aside to show his attacker the healing of the wound via the flame-aura around him.

"You're nothing but all bullshit tricks and scams." Cardin asserted, receiving 'yeahs' from his cronies. "I bet you and Ruby are actually the weakest people, and the whole thing is rigged."

Something clicked within Jet. A small flare from within.

He swung back, nailing Cardin in the gut with a significant level of power, winding him but not doing much else. As Cardin coughed, Jet stood over him.

"Never, ever insult Ruby in front of me." Jet growled, his voice darkening.

"What, is your bitch really that precious?" Cardin asked as Sky and Russel helped him up. "I could show her more in a single night than you'll ever give her. You're probably sterile too, or maybe you even have rabies, you half-breed. She should be in bed with a real man, not a mutt who barks worse than bites. You don't even try to hurt people that hurt her. Coward."

Jet felt his defences crumbling. The calmness of before was rapidly being replaced by anger.

"You know what?" Cardin continued. "I bet she needs a better man, because you can't satisfy the slut for long."

With that, he swung his fist once more at Jet, who stood perfectly still.


	9. Chapter 9 - Fiery Rage

The fist that Cardin swung at Jet met a rock hard wall. Jet's flames flickered furiously at their master's attacker, and as Cardin shrieked in pain and clutched his hand, they gathered around their master and fired the Red Pulse Exceed, blasting all four of his opponents away. They flared as he outstretched his wings, burning with his aura as they reflected their master's anger.

* * *

Jet was now fully enraged. How dare they threaten HIS sweetheart, and expect to bully HIM into submission? Jet Xiao Rose, Angel of Darkness?

They would _die_.

"You fuckers." Jet said, quiet but with a shuddering voice, filled with pure rage now. "You brave the wrath of a motherfucking GOD!"

The flames burned even brighter, and he began to visibly tremble with barely contained hatred. Rare was that Jet truly lost his temper, but when he did…

Pure hell would be unleashed upon the ones who provoked it.

Especially when Ruby was threatened.

The result was nothing short of an anger so powerful that it made Yang's seem meek.

Doomsayer and Darkening appeared in his hands, the metal glowing red hot with Jet's inhumane fury as he pointed his lance at the furious bullies, who had only just recovered from the blasting earlier. Dove and Sky looked cowed, Russel looked ready to bolt, but Cardin looked furious.

"None of you go." he growled. "Tonight, we're taking this fuck down."

"You will all die for what you called her!" Jet roared, his voice becoming darker and louder by the second. "Burn!"

He crouched and focussed all of his hatred into his lance, and it shone with heat. Without waiting for his opponents to make the first move, he fired a flaming barrage of powerful beams that scorched and set alight his targets, their screams fuelling Jet's desire to cause _true_ pain.

He charged into the fire, dodging past an already fleeing Russel and Dove trying to extinguish a flaming and screaming Sky, moving swiftly towards Cardin. He raised his weapon to block the lance, but Jet jabbed Doomsayer into his torso, causing him to howl in pain as the burning metal broke his aura in naught but a touch.

Cardin retaliated, swinging in an arc towards Jet's head, but it cracked off the fire surrounding him. Jet rammed him with his shield, and burned Cardin once again, easily searing off his shirt, armour and trousers, burning not only his skin but setting alight his soul.

Normally, Jet would have relented, but, possessed by an unholy fury, he slashed the man in front of him not once, nor twice, not even three, but four times across his chest with the white-hot metal. With each hit, Cardin sank further down to the ground, angry but completely powerless against the Angel of Darkness.

Finally, Jet ended his string of brutal attacks with a heavy punch to the stomach, knocking his victim down, his weapon flying far away. He drew his lance back, the steaming tip pointed directly at his adversary's heart, and held it there. This was it. Jet was going to end this piece of shit's life right here.

"Do it, you son of a bitch." Cardin growled at him. "Fucking big man now, huh, protecting _your_ bitch!"

"DIE!" Jet roared, plunging Doomsayer down, intent upon ending the life before him right here, right now, using all of his godly power.

His lance barely touched the tip of Cardin's right breast when a force of greater power stopped the lance in its tracks. Being indestructible, the lance rebounded the force of the strike upon Jet, who was sent flying backwards, but his wings quickly caught, and he hovered as he searched for whom had conjured that shield.

His eyes met none but Ozpin's, who reflected a look that resembled curiosity mixed with stern disapproval.

"Jet, stand down now!" he barked. Jet, however, did not.

"Let me finish him." Jet hissed, gesturing to Cardin.

"I might." Ozpin said, with an unreadable expression on his face. "But first you must explain yourself. What happened that merited such actions?"

"He threatened me, and the one I love. He struck me first, and even suggested that he would rape my love." Jet replied, landing before his headmaster, but not lowering the weapon aimed at Cardin.

"That's not true, sir." Cardin said with a sneer, as he stood back up, despite his wounds. Jet grinned, though his eyes still showed great and terrible anger. He pointed up at the corner of one of the buildings.

"What's that, bitch?" he asked. He knew what it was before the fool even glanced at the spot. There had been a security camera there the entire time. Now Cardin was in for it. He might get punished too, for attempted murder, but Cardin would definitely be screwed. Not only did threaten Ruby and him with the intent of provoking him, he also threatened rape.

"For the record sir," Jet said, calming down a little, though he still felt fury in his heart, "anger empowers me immensely it seems."

"Enough, Jet." Ozpin replied sternly. "You four," he gestured at Team CRDL, "straight to the hospital wing, where I will check up on you. Jet, you come with me."

Jet felt another surge of anger, but did his utmost now to control it. Ozpin was an ally here, and it would be unwise to let him have it, as volatile as he was after what had happened. He took Ozpin's extended hand, and the two left.

* * *

They said nothing on the way to the office. Ozpin did not seem to react to the fact that Jet was still on fire, the purple flames licking the hand that grasped his own.

Ozpin opened the door to his office for Jet, who tilted his head in thanks. To his surprise, Ruby was already seated at the desk, and she turned at their entrance. She got up to hug Jet, and he outstretched his arms, extinguishing the flames.

"I'm so glad you're okay." Ruby said tearfully. Now Jet was confused.

"Did you think me in danger?" Jet asked, as he held her, watching Ozpin circle around his desk.

"I hate to interrupt such a tender reunion," Ozpin interjected, before Ruby could respond, "but we have more pressing matters. Sit down, please."

Jet let go of Ruby instantly and sat down. He spared her a glance, noting her serious expression, before focussing on Ozpin.

"I have made Ruby aware that I know of your bond." Ozpin spoke, and Ruby nodded. "Quite an impressive display, Jet. I am glad you are easily able to fulfil your vow."

"I thank you." Jet replied, finally calm again.

"However, Ruby and I witnessed that fight you had with Cardin, and the words exchanged beforehand." Ozpin continued. "You can be rest assured that they will most definitely be punished for such words, and the wounds you inflicted will be a lesson on attempting to provoke one that is much stronger than them. You have my word."

"You were scary." Ruby said, and Jet turned to look at her. "I've never seen you that angry before. Even when Yang was pushing you around, you never lost it like that."

"It's very difficult to make me lose my temper." Jet insisted. "But when I do, I can get so angry that I kill. As you saw, if it hadn't been for Ozpin, I would have ended Cardin right there and then."

"Which brings me to my point." Ozpin explained. "Jet, what was the purpose of your display of such force in the arena?"

As Ozpin waited patiently for Jet's reply, Ruby felt her heart pound incessantly. This was it. One of the pieces of the picture of Jet she was missing. She didn't even notice she was holding her breath until Jet responded.

"Izzet's time-travel semblance has evolved." Jet explained, keeping a serious tone. "She is able to see small, occasional visions of the future. She told me that I would need to display my powers, because it would give you an excuse to gather me, her, and team RWBY for a mission. A mission to destroy Flux."

Ruby looked to Ozpin, who looked deep in thought.

"If that is true," Ozpin replied slowly, "then why display such power when I already know of it?"

"People would talk." Jet responded with a wry smile. "After all, we are third year students of yours, and as the education at Beacon lasts for four years, it would be more appropriate to send more experienced trainees, or even call upon qualified hunters and/or huntresses to deal with her. You would be suspected of favouritism, and your judgement questioned by more than just Ironwood."

"So you showed them why you would be chosen." Ruby finished for him, and he nodded in ascent. It was exactly the kind of plan Jet would construct, using knowledge beyond most to act, then fade into the shadows once his work was done.

"There is only one other question I have." Ozpin said, drawing their attention. "Why choose Team RWBY, a team that you defeated with ease, no offense intended. Were it my decision, I would have you go with experienced hunters and huntresses, as you stated before."

Ruby bristled at that, and was about to speak when Jet cut her off by taking her left hand with his right.

"As much as my display said otherwise, Team RWBY is one of the strongest teams I know, aside from my naturally biased opinion of my own team, LIJN." Jet replied, squeezing Ruby's hand a little. "And on the day, three days from now, you announce that I will take this mission aside Izzet, I will request that Team RWBY accompany us, that being a condition of mine, and Izzet's acceptance of this mission."

It was Ozpin's turn to smile coyly now.

"And because I know you are our only chance at defeating our enemy, I cannot refuse." Ozpin remarked with a chuckle. "Well played, Jet."

He never failed to surprise Ruby. She'd thought Ozpin far smarter than any of them, and yet here Jet was, locking his options down and forcing even him to take action on Jet's terms.

"I have to play carefully." Jet replied with a titter. "I've been moving things around so that, in the end, the rook takes the queen."

"Why a rook?" Ozpin asked, and Ruby noted a curious air. She knew the basic elements of chess, beyond the castle, horsey and whatnot, but hadn't really found time to play since arriving at Beacon. "Surely a queen would better suit you."

"I lack the mobility." Jet answered. "I am more suited for unlimited defence and attack rather than speed. If I were to delegate the role of metaphorical queen to someone, well, she's sitting right beside me." Ignoring Ruby's blush, he continued, putting an arm around her. "She can attack the targets I can't, either dealing with them herself or dragging them out for me to deal with them. In any case, I think we're done here."

"That we are. Try not to lose control in the future, Jet." Ozpin finished. Jet nodded, and then sat up, Ruby joining him. They walked out through the door and towards the exit.

* * *

Ruby barely took the first step outside before she heard Jet sigh.

"That was too close." she heard from behind her. She looked back to see Jet wiping his brow, and held out a hand, which he took in his own, before leading him back to the dorms. He drew level with her as they passed by the courtyard, lit by many lamps from above in the night.

"I'm really glad you're my boyfriend." Ruby said. He was strong, invulnerable, and intelligent. Ruby honestly felt immensely outclassed by her lover, even though they were at the same stages of training. Even though he was an Angel of Darkness.

"Is that because I was that pissed at CDNL after they insulted you, or just because I'm awesome?" Jet asked in an uncharacteristically cocky tone. Ruby looked at him to see him grinning.

"Both." Ruby replied with her own smile. "But the awesomeness comes first."

"Takes an awesome person to know an awesome person." Jet said, ruffling Ruby's hair, and she felt a pinprick of annoyance. He really needed to stop that. She bobbed her head and made Jet stop, before continuing.

"Thanks." Ruby said.


	10. Chapter 10 - Sharp Eye

Jet laid in his own floating bed, awaiting sleep and the start of the second day of the weekend. While he did still have some homework to do, he was unconcerned. He could wing it, if he had to.

"Hey."

A familiar voice disturbed him. Jet opened his eyes to see Blake's yellow eyes shining close, and her face was very close to his own. The fright it gave him instantly triggered the charge of his Red Pulse Exceed, and he was forced to use his will to prevent it as he laid there, staring into Blake's eyes.

"What is it?" he asked, sitting up as she backed off. It was still dark outside, and the window was open, though he suspected that was how she got in.

"We need to talk." she replied.

* * *

Jet folded his wings and plummeted from the clouds, landing on the rooftop of the dorm rooms. Blake arrived a moment sooner, elegantly leaping onto the shadow covered roof under the dark, cloudy sky.

"So what did you want to talk about?" Jet asked, feeling a growing sense of trepidation. He knew Blake was the smart one of RWBY, and if she wanted to talk to him, at this time, it must be something quite serious.

"I saw your fight with CRDL." Blake replied. "The whole thing."

* * *

"You fuckers. You brave the wrath of a motherfucking GOD!"

Blake looked up from her book. She sat in a tree overlooking the dorm room area, and had originally came here for some peace, and an escape from Yang, who seemed to be interested in everything she was doing.

Now she closed her book as she saw Jet engulf himself in purple flames, that lance and shield from before appearing in his hands, but they were glowing red-hot. Blake felt her heartbeat increase substantially once she realised that Jet looked _furious_. He was angrier than any other time Blake had seen him. She noticed CRDL getting up, and Cardin was angry too, though the cowardly boys behind him didn't seem as brave.

"None of you go." he growled. "Tonight, we're taking this fuck down."

"You will all die for what you called her!" Jet roared, his voice reaching Blake and making her ears twitch under her bow. "Burn!" Was he referring to Ruby?

Jet crouched, the lance glowing as Blake had seen it glow when she'd fought him. After barely a second of charging his attack, he fired a flaming barrage of laser-like projectiles that seared the skin of his opponents and set alight sections of the ground. Blake flinched at the scream of Sky, who'd taken the brunt of the attack.

Jet was out for blood though, as he ran past Cardin's cronies to get to the big guy himself, lance first, bathed in flames. He raised his weapon to block the lance, but the attack was a feint, and Jet thrust his own weapon into Cardin's chest, causing him to howl in pain as the burning metal broke his aura, but it didn't contact his skin.

Cardin retaliated, swinging in an arc towards Jet's head, and Blake braced herself for the pain Jet would feel when it connected. However, it merely bounced off the fire surrounding him.

Now Blake was astonished. That shield semblance was clearly far more powerful than she'd thought, allowing Jet to take a hit full in the face from Cardin without flinching. Jet counter-attacked by ramming him with his shield, and seared Cardin once again, burning off the bully's shirt.

 _'Stop. You've done enough.'_ Blake thought. If Jet had heard her, he clearly didn't acknowledge her.

Jet slashed the man in front of him again and again across his chest with the white-hot metal. Blake felt herself cringe every time Cardin yelled in pain and the lance slashed him afresh, until he finally punched Cardin in his bloody gut, knocking his weapon away.

As Blake watched, he drew his lance back, the steaming tip pointed directly at his adversary's heart, and held it there. He wasn't going to… was he?

"Do it, you son of a bitch." Cardin growled at him. "Fucking big man now, huh, protecting _your_ bitch!"

"DIE!" Jet roared, plunging his weapon down.

* * *

"You would have killed him." Blake concluded, as Jet sat down, cross-legged on the flat roof.

"I would have." Jet replied. Part of him still wanted to end Cardin for that, but he forced his rage down. Scum like him wasn't worth his time. "They threatened Ruby, and called her unspeakable things even when I asked them to stop. Normally, I would have brushed them off, but I just snapped. It's a first for me."

"Ruby's already told Yang and Weiss what she saw over the camera." Blake said. "While Yang's got a newfound respect for you, Weiss and I are worried. About your power."

"What about it?" Jet asked, and a purple flicker of fire appeared on his hand. He shook his hand to extinguish it as he saw Blake's eyes widen.

"You've done something to get it, and I want to know what." Blake replied.

Shit.

"What makes you think I've done something?" Jet asked, now looking straight into Blake's eyes. Time to bring out the talent for secrecy.

"No-one can get that strong in-between when you left with Ruby and when you returned by simple means." Blake responded sternly.

"Define simple means." Jet requested.

"Ordinary, like through training." Blake replied swiftly, and her frown became apparent. Could Jet tell her, maybe?

"We all have our secrets, Blake." Jet said, pointing to the top of his head, referring to Blake's ears. "I have mine, just like you have yours."

"Except this 'secret' could be having all sorts of effects on all sorts of people." Blake countered.

"I could say the same about yours." Jet stated, now starting to let his annoyance creep into his voice. "Leave this matter where it lies."

"I could," Blake replied, "but something tells me this is big, and should be out in the open."

"Blake, drop it." Jet insisted, and the fire sparked again.

"I won't, because I need this information." Blake shot back.

Jet stood up now, and allowed his flames to catch. Purple light flickered around him as he stared Blake down, who did not flinch at his transformation. Enough was enough.

"You want to know how I can do this?" Jet responded. "You'd need to be half a monster to understand. That's why I can't tell you, because you're messing with forces beyond mortal comprehension!"

"Mortal?" Blake asked, quickly. "Are you suggesting you're not?" Jet could feel the power flowing back into him even as his grimace turned into a smile.

"Do you really expect to comprehend someone like me?" Jet replied, now outstretching his wings. "You want to know the root of all this? The grand secret?"

"Yes." The answer was swift from Blake, and Jet knew that she would never back down. So be it.

He raised his hand, and the Dark Field was constructed in a bubble around them, encompassing the roof. As Blake looked all around them, Jet allowed his eyes to become their demonic red. He waited for her to face him again, before he continued.

"Anything I say from this point on will be between us." Jet said, his voice in its darkened and deep state now. "If not, I will make it a slow and painful end." He flared his flames further to emphasise the point, and Blake took a step back. "I've kept your secret for this long, Blake. Can you do the same for me?"

"Yes." Blake said, her mouth now a thin line, her eyes boring into Jet's.

"Very well." Jet replied. "Then I'll start from the beginning."

* * *

It had been five minutes. Jet had just finished recounting everything done with Ruby upon their arrival at the Festung der Shatten, the ritual, up to their return. Blake had kept an expressionless face throughout, and upon Jet's pause, she looked downwards.

"So you're with the Grimm now." she said.

"Ruby and I form the pair. Yes, I am an Angel of Darkness." Jet replied, and as he said it, he allowed the flames that he'd been restraining to fully flicker, his eyes turning red.

"And Flux, your enemy, is one too. That's why you've done this, so you can kill her."

"Right."

"There's no other way to beat her?"

"You tell me."

Blake paused. Jet waited. He'd allowed her in, but now…

"You have to promise not to mention that you know about this to ANYONE, got it?" Jet asked.

"Thank you, Jet." Blake responded steadily, looking up. Jet saw her eyes widen a little, probably from the red eyes. "I promise."

"Now that you know what I am, it should be even more incentive to keep my secret. I'll keep doing the same." Jet said. "Goodnight."

* * *

As Blake watched Jet leap from the building, extinguishing the flames with a single flap of his wings, she also turned and ran in the opposite direction.

She needed to report her findings in due course, regardless of Jet's intent. Her team needed to know.


	11. Chapter 11 - Reversion

Following the fateful encounter with Blake, Jet found it increasingly hard to slog through the next day of classes. Even combat class was distinctly uneventful compared to his own thoughts.

Why had Blake been so determined to find his secret?

Did someone put her up to that?

He felt an elbow in the ribs, and hissed indignantly at Izzet, who pointed to Goodwitch.

"Jet, you are required for this next exercise. Please come forward." she instructed. It was another combat training class, and he felt eyes on his back as he leaped upwards before allowing his wings to catch and soaring down to where Goodwitch was, landing gracefully at her side before turning to face the class.

"This exercise will focus on your agility." Goodwitch explained to the class. "You must evade Jet's attacks for one minute. You cannot retaliate."

Jet gave her a sideways glance.

"That won't last long." he murmured, causing her to steal a glance at him.

"You will not be able to move." she replied. "You must focus on using your ranged attacks. Is that possible?"

"Of course." Jet replied with a grin.

* * *

Ruby watched from the stands as Jet and Goodwitch had their conversation. She wondered briefly if Jet was in trouble, but then reconsidered when she saw his grin.

"Now then, we will determine two teams to demonstrate the importance of agility." Goodwitch announced. "To succeed, you must evade Jet's powerful attacks for one minute. He will not be able to move, but bear in mind that you cannot retaliate. You will need to focus on evasion."

Goodwitch then took out her scroll as Jet took his position in the center of the training arena. Ruby focussed on him as he stretched upwards, before that purple fire surrounded him once more. Barely a second later, his shield and lance appeared with a howling shriek that threatened the death of any that came in contact with them.

He really did look like an angel of darkness now. And yet Ruby was surprised. Not one single person except Ozpin had found out about them. Though she couldn't shrug off the nagging feeling about the glances Blake stole of her from time to time, looking away when Ruby met her eyes. Did she know?

It seemed that Team JNPR had been first to be chosen to face Jet's trial.

Ruby saw Jaune, Pyrrha and Ren walk up from the entrance to the arena.

"Where's Nora?" Ruby asked Yang, who was sat beside her.

"She's got a fever." Yang replied sideways.

A laugh from Jet brought Ruby's attention back to the field.

"So you think you can evade me so easily can you, Pyrrha?" he asked. "We'll see about that."

His aura indicator assumed its golden hue, and Goodwitch hit the start button on her stopwatch.

"Pay attention." Weiss' voice came from her immediate left. "We might be able to learn something by watching his movements."

"What is there to learn?" Ruby muttered to herself as Jet immediately blasted Jaune backwards with a laser originally meant for Ren.

"What was that, Ruby?" Yang asked, drawing her attention away for a brief moment, in which Jet had fired another laser. Her sister looked troubled.

"Nothing. Nothing." Ruby said, quickly, but Yang's narrowed eyes indicated her disbelief. "Okay, fine." she grumbled. "What is there to learn?"

"What do you mean by that?" Weiss asked from across Yang. "He's clearly a lot stronger than us. We can pick up something from his technique."

Ruby looked back just in time to see Jet plunge his lance into the ground, sending a pulse outward that shocked and stunned Ren, leaving him easy prey for another laser attack. She turned back to Weiss.

"All I really see is how strong my boyfriend is." Ruby replied. Weiss gave her an affronted look, but her response was cut off with a giggle from Yang.

"Boyfriend? That's a first." Yang laughed. "I thought he was the one giving the pet names."

Before Ruby could reply, Goodwitch ended the test. As Ruby had predicted beforehand, not one of JNPR had survived that minute. Jet was just too powerful right now.

It was almost boring.

She noticed Blake shooting her a rather odd look, a twist between knowing and apprehension. Did she know?

* * *

As Jet resumed his position next to Goodwitch, he let his power dissipate. It was getting too easy. The immortality, the unlimited power, the ability to simply end someone on the spot.

He tucked his wings in, mentally punching himself.

 _'You can't get complacent, fool.'_ Jet berated himself. _'Remember your purpose.'_

His purpose was… was…

Jet found his thoughts were becoming fainter and fainter. The fire inside him was getting hotter and hotter. It was beginning to burn him. His head was beginning to ache. What was going on?

"Professor?" Jet asked sideways at Goodwitch. "May I be excused?"

It was five minutes before the end of class anyway, but knowing Goodwitch, she would need a reason.

"Why, may I ask?" she responded, giving him an appraising look. He put a hand to his forehead, which he now realised was covered with sweat.

"Imminent migraine, only just realised its coming." Jet replied. He had no idea what this was, but he wasn't going to find out here, in the middle of class, in front of everyone. To his surprise, Goodwitch's expression softened a little.

"Fly out and straight to your dorm room. I will report this to your team. Go now." Goodwitch instructed, an almost pitying expression on her face.

It was one of those things where you didn't question it. You just go with it.

Jet immediately leaped into the air and took flight, but while he soared in the direction of the dorm rooms, he was not really heading there.

* * *

Jet landed on the roof of the cafeteria building and immediately pressed his hand to the tiles. A barrier, made from purple ice, shielded him from the light of the sun. The unnatural chill soothed his rapidly heating skin, and without warning, a practical thunderbolt of pain hit his head as the flames currently heating him burst outwards.

Jet hissed in pain as he curled up into a ball. The fire started to sear, and the headache became a full blown migraine. He groaned a little as he leaned against the ice, knowing that it wouldn't melt unless HE wanted it to melt, and closed his eyes, as the sensory input was causing his head to hurt worse.

"Jet? Jet?!"

Was that Ruby?

"What's happening?"

Yang too?

"Get away from me!" he yelled, and immediately regretted it as another jolt of pain wracked his brain. He had no idea where they were, but he knew his fire was starting to expand, bit by bit.

He felt a soft hand on his arm, and an 'Ow!' followed by its quick withdrawal told him that Yang had just touched him and burnt herself. If he wasn't in complete agony right now, he would have laughed at the irony.

As Jet curled up tighter, bearing the brunt of the stinging flames and terrible migraine, he recalled something that Deus had told him the first he'd seen him.

'REMEMBER, MORTAL, YOU ARE INFUSED WITH MY POWER. YOU WILL GROW STRONGER, BUT THERE IS A CHANCE YOUR BODY WILL DESTROY ITSELF EACH TIME IT HAPPENS.'

Is that what he meant?

The hateful flames billowed ever outwards. He could feel them growing in heat and size.

"Ruby, get away from him!" Yang yelled from somewhere. "He's white hot!"

"JET! LET GO, YANG!" Ruby screamed out. Everything was burning. The purple fire that had provided strength before was now causing torrential surges of agony, but he was starting to feel something else.

Pleasure.

He was feeling pleasure?

With a roar, he allowed the pain he'd been resisting to now dominate his body. The fires billowed around him, creating more terrible suffering but also… strength.

Had he won the gamble?

"Ahhh!" Jet shrieked as he rose to his feet, opening his eyes to see the blaze having spread outwards and forcing Yang and Ruby back. "Ultimate power… I have… POWER!"

The energy surrounding him now flowed inwards, drawing the fire into him. The feeling of sudden strength and a lightening of his body was the strongest so far. Bathing in ecstasy within this new feeling of power, he gave another roar, before it all stopped, and he fell to his arms and knees. His wings had burst from his clothes during this, and he panted as he heard tentative footsteps walking towards him.

He looked up to see Ruby and Yang kneeling down to look at him. He was still surrounded by flames, and a red glow within the purple told him that his eyes were red. He stood, wings outstretched, a grin spreading on his face as he looked at his hand, where flames curled around his fingers. The ice was gone.

"Are you okay? Say something!" Yang yelled, and were it not for Ruby next to her, she'd have probably been the one most worried for him.

"I'm more than okay." Jet said. "I feel… fantastic!"

He extinguished the flames as Yang and Ruby looked at one another with puzzled expressions. He reached out a hand to Ruby, and upon touching it, the poor girl ran to him and hugged him tightly. Jet hugged her back, glad to be alive.

"I-I… I…" Ruby said, speechless. Jet ruffled her hair, and kissed her softly on the forehead as she burst into tears, crying into his chest even as Yang walked towards him, a serious expression on her face.

"Is it over?" she asked, as Ruby shuddered.

"For now, at least." Jet panted, losing his breath momentarily. "Holy crud though, that power sure hurt."

"I'll leave you two. Get rid of anyone watching." Yang said, as she turned to go. "It's fine. You can tell me later."

Jet watched her go, then looked down at Ruby, who was still crying. He pushed her back a little so he could look her in the eye, and her face was flushed, red from her tears. Her lip trembled.

"I'm okay, Ruby. Deus warned me about this." he reassured, wiping a fresh tear from Ruby's eye. "I'm even stronger now."

Ruby stood back from him, then did the one thing he didn't expect.

She slapped him, hard, across the face.

Jet was so taken aback that he fell backwards, letting go of her. Ruby didn't stop though. She was on him immediately, punching him in the chest as she sobbed.

"Dummy, dummy, dummy!" she cried, hitting him again with every word, before she collapsed against him, tears flowing freely again. "I don't care how much stronger you get! Don't die getting it and leave me! You dumbass! You… you…"

Ruby's next words collapsed into high pitched gasps as she ran out of breath. Jet said nothing, reeling from that assault, he couldn't think of anything else to say. He wrapped both his hands and his wings around her, holding Ruby close as she cried out her last. Her warm body soothed his aching muscles, tired as they were from the ordeal he'd just gone through.

His fists clenched as he remembered the reason he was putting himself through this pain. Why he was sacrificing both his mind and body to destroy that threat.

Flux.

She was waiting for him.

She knew he'd come.

And when he did,

He'd end it.

End it all.

End… her.


	12. Chapter 12 - Unveiling

Ruby clutched Jet's reassuringly warm body as she shuddered. What was he thinking?

If he died, Ruby wouldn't be far behind him. He meant that much to her. She loved him that much.

She felt some of the power he'd gained herself, being bonded to him. A surge of strength and speed from the darkness. It felt good, but it left a bittersweet taste in her mouth.

"Ruby, I'm okay." Jet reassured her, lifting her off him as he stood up. Ruby stood up too, mentally promising herself that she would stay close to him from now on. "But we need to speak to the rest of your team. About what we are."

Ruby was taken aback. If they found out, then-

"Blake found out, and I don't think Yang will simply forget what just happened." Jet explained with a sad smile. "Weiss isn't far from figuring it out either, based on the looks she's been giving me recently. The way I see it, they'll all know eventually. All that remains is whether we accept it, or push them away."

"Wait, how did Blake find out?" Ruby asked. At this, Jet turned his gaze to his feet.

"She quizzed me after our little show." Jet admitted. "I let it slip that I was practically immortal, and she caught on. It didn't take long for her to work out the truth, and there was me thinking that this phenomenon wasn't known. I'm sorry, Ruby."

Ruby put her hand under his chin and lifted so that his gaze met hers. It was a good thing they were the same height. She legitimately didn't know how serious their predicament was.

"What's going to happen, Jet? How do you think they'll take it?" Ruby asked.

Jet seemed to think for a moment, his eyes shifting to the sky, before returning to Ruby's.

"Yang, I think she'll be fine. Weiss will probably be the problem." Jet replied, moving backwards a little. "There's one thing I have to do though, before we confront them."

Without another word, he surrounded his hand in cyan flames, before swirling it in a circle and pointing at Ruby. She then felt those same flames surrounding her, but they didn't burn. Instead, they darkened until they matched the same hue as the flames now dancing around Jet. Ruby looked quickly at her body, and it wasn't burning or blackening as she thought it would.

"I've activated your powers." Jet explained as Ruby shot him a confused look. "To activate them and deactivate them, say the word 'Transcend' out loud."

"Transcend?" Ruby repeated, and the flames vanished. "Transcend." Ruby said again, and the flames re-emerged.

"While in that state, your strength and speed increase, and you're invulnerable, like I am. But you can only sustain that for about three minutes. You'll know when it's about to run out." Jet continued.

"That would have been useful before. Transcend." Ruby muttered, and her own aura-flames vanished.

Jet did not pass comment, but instead crouched and offered her his back. Ruby studied him dubiously, not wanting him to suffer any more pain after what happened before.

"Will it be okay? You carrying me, I mean." Ruby asked. "You feeling the most pain in your life and everything."

"I'll be fine." he replied insistently. "We have to settle this quickly."

Ruby was sure he was lying, but decided not to press him. She swore she could hear a hiss as she climbed onto his back, and another as he took off.

He was still hurting, but Ruby knew better than to question it. She'd seen that look of a man on a mission in his eyes. That… purpose or whatever had definitely returned.

He was clearly determined to get this right.

* * *

Yang was waiting for Jet and Ruby to return. Lying on her back in bed, she reflected briefly on what she'd seen in the arena. Jet still seemed as powerful as ever. There again, there was that scene on the roof.

Yang closed her eyes as she thought. He'd burst into those purple flames and actually screamed in pain. He'd been clutching his head and had curled up, indicating a migraine as well. The flames had spread, forcing her to hold Ruby back. She'd tried to touch the flames herself, but they'd burned her with a white hot lick.

Then Jet had yelled those words.

 _'Ultimate power… I have… POWER!'_

Despite suffering that much, was he getting stronger? Even as she'd restrained a panicked Ruby, he had stood up, reabsorbing the flames, and it had been then that she'd let go of Ruby.

What _was_ he?

Yang was still trying to find a way to beat him, but everything turned a blank. Her punches had no effect, the shots from Ember Cecilia were merely being absorbed the same way her own fire was.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Weiss and Blake, who had chosen that moment to walk inside. Yang didn't bother listening to their conversation, until an outburst from Weiss caught her attention.

"Do you honestly think it will be that easy?!" Weiss practically yelled.

CRASH!

Yang's eyes shot open to see Jet roll sideways along the floor before his momentum flung Ruby on his back into the section of wall next to the door, which she hit with an 'ow!' before sliding down it.

"Told you it was shut." Jet groaned as he got up, surrounded by white shards. "And unlike Theyl, that actually hurt."

"Sorry, Jet." Ruby mumbled sheepishly as she looked at Jet, whose back was to Yang. "Jet, you're bleeding!"

"Am I?" Jet asked, and Yang put the pieces together just as Weiss shouted for her.

"What on Remnant made you two think that going through a window was a good idea?!" Weiss asked loudly as Jet turned around, revealing two cuts under his left eye.

"Can't exactly see when you're flying as fast as me, and Ruby left the window open when she left." Jet responded, as Weiss used a glyph to reconstruct the window. Ruby had a sheepish look as Yang caught her eye.

"Well, that's a way to make an entrance." Yang deadpanned as she leapt down from her bed and grabbed Jet's shoulders to get him to look at her. "Let me see." she instructed.

"Sorry, seriously Jet, I'm sorry!" Ruby said quickly as she circled around to see the damage.

The two cuts were clean, but Yang could clearly see two shards of glass in each. The slivers of light signalled their presence.

"Jet, you might need to head to the nurse for this one." Yang admitted, hearing a guilt stricken "oh no" from Ruby. "You've got shards in your cuts."

"Aqua Heal won't work for this one then." Jet muttered as Yang let go. He raised his hand, and Yang saw the light flash from his palm. He was summoning Izzet.

"Oh right, Izzet." Yang said. "I forgot she was a medic."

As soon as she said it, the girl herself appeared behind him. Izzet said nothing, merely beckoning Jet towards her and examining him. She then pointed at the window, and Jet nodded, hissing a little as the shards moved inside the cuts.

"Check Ruby for cuts." Jet instructed as Izzet pushed him down onto Weiss' bed. She briefly heard Weiss say something, but was cut off. Yang assumed Izzet had said something using her telepathy.

"You've got glass in your wings too." Blake commented as Yang spun Ruby around, checking her neck, arms, legs, face. It seemed that she was okay. Jet must have taken the brunt of the impact.

"You're fine." she reassured Ruby, then turned to see Izzet pull out a glass shard using a small pair of tweezers from Jet's cheek. She put it next to four other shards on a small silver plate, then gave Jet the nod. He raised his finger to his cuts and traced each, leaving a blue liquid that intermingled with the blood. After a couple of seconds, he wiped the blood off, and his cuts had been completely healed without a trace.

"Can you get the rest of LIJN?" Jet asked. Izzet nodded and vanished.

"So what was the purpose of crashing through our window?" Blake asked.

"Beyond the smashing experience?" Jet asked, causing Yang to smile in spite of herself and Ruby to groan a little. "I'm going to tell them what I told you."

"Very well." Blake said, after a pause. Yang looked at her, and knew Weiss and Ruby were doing the same.

"What did he tell you?" Weiss asked.

"Keep an open mind." was all Blake said. What did that mean?

Yang shifted her gaze to Jet, who paused. Yang wondered why, until Izzet, Nouvelle, and Lilac appeared out of thin air next to her, causing her to jump.

"Ve are here, Jet." Nouvelle announced to her leader, a stern look. "What is ze matter?"

"What information do you have for us?" Lilac asked, a softer, more kind expression on her face. Izzet said nothing, instead locking eyes with Jet. After a brief silence, Jet nodded, then addressed the rest of them.

"To my side, Ruby." Jet commanded, and Yang watched Ruby walk up next to him, then turn to face them. "Time to show them the meaning of these, and the source of my power."

In unison, Jet and Ruby held up the hands with their rings. Yang felt her heart skip a beat.

"I think we should show them first." Jet said, with a grin, which Ruby unnervingly mirrored.

"Transcend!" Ruby called, and both of them went up in purple flames. Wait, BOTH of them?!

Ruby clasped her hands together as she and Jet were surrounded by the same flame-aura Yang had seen on Jet. Now she was confused. How did Ruby have the same semblance as Jet? Gasps came from both Lilac and Izzet.

"Ruby?" Weiss called out. "Why do you have those powers too?"

"These powers come from our bond." Jet replied. "The one that we made."

"Our enemy is Flux, but you guys know that already." Ruby continued. "We can't beat her with normal weapons or fighting styles."

"So we became something… abnormal." Jet explained. "Before I continue, I want to warn you all. None of you must speak a word of this to anyone else. If you cannot follow this, then leave now."

A silence followed his words. Yang knew none of them would go. His word choice unnerved her, though. He and Ruby were abnormal? How? What had they done?

"Well…" Ruby said, pausing a little, Yang knew, out of nerves. "We have joined with the Grimm."

Now a fire lit in Yang's heart. Joined with their enemy? The Grimm, who kill and slaughter countless innocents every day, the creatures that nearly drove them to extinction?

"That's not necessarily correct." Jet intervened. "I have embraced my Grimm side, and become what is known as an Angel of Darkness." Yang heard Weiss almost growl at his words. "Ruby is what is known as my Fulcrum. She is my bonding partner, if you like. That's why she's like me."

"Did you force her into this?" Weiss asked, in a very dangerous voice. Yang's temper was mirroring Weiss' right now; if Jet had made her do it, she would-

"No, I made my own choice." Ruby replied. "I chose to join Jet, as a Fulcrum."

What?

"With her nearby, I become invulnerable." Jet continued. "That talk of a new semblance was a lie, merely a cover story for my power. This power protects us from damage from any normal origin when my flames are lit. We're also stronger, faster, and can endure combat for much, much longer thanks to it."

"That's not all." Ruby took over from Jet. "Show them your weapons."

Jet obeyed, and Yang saw the lance and shield weapons take shape. They looked exactly as they did before. Waves of energy rippled through the air, making her shudder a little in spite of herself. What were they?

Ruby put her flaming hands on the lance and raised it for everyone to see, though Jet was still holding it.

"This lance is called Doomsayer." Ruby said, and Yang recognised the analytical tone in her sister's voice, the tone only present when weapons were involved. "Jet uses his own unlimited aura to shoot lasers with it, and it is capable of taking someone out in one hit. When Jet crouches, he charges the laser, and the size of the laser depends on how long he charges."

"The point of all this," Jet interrupted as Ruby released his lance, "is that all of that was achieved with our new powers. We're completely invincible against normal human beings."

"Why haven't other people gained this power, if it's so good?" Blake asked. Jet's grin became a grimace, and even Ruby turned to look at him.

"First, you need to be a half Grimm to even attempt it." Jet answered. "But the second reason is the heavy drawback of being an Angel of Darkness. Ruby won't be affected, but I will be." He sighed. "My body is linked with Deus, the dark god, and while I do get insane strength and power, my mind is slowly being corrupted."

"Corrupted?!" Nouvelle, Lilac and Ruby all shouted out at the same time. Jet's eyes seemed to grow almost watery at this outburst.

"That episode that you saw on the roof was what I'll refer to as a Reversion." Jet continued. "You see, my mind is now on the clock. Slowly, my mind will change. I don't know what will happen over time, but the end result is… insanity. Once in a while, I'll experience this Reversion. It is extremely painful, both to body and soul, but if I can resist it, then I'll get stronger for only a small acceleration of the process. The reverse happens if I fail; a small boost in strength and a larger increase in acceleration."

Yang leaned against a bedpost, trying to take it all in. So Jet was definitely going to become insane in the future, but how long he had depended on his inner strength and will to resist. But why was he sacrificing so much and enduring all of this?

"Which brings me back to why I'm doing this, and what I need you all to do for me." Jet said, after a pause.


	13. Chapter 13 - Opening Moves

"You all must not fail." Jet said, insistently, as he raised his lance, the purple flames surging around him. "If we want to bring this fiend down, we must work together."

A chorus of "Yeah!" of varying enthusiasm levels answered this statement.

* * *

Nouvelle combed through the daily news on her scroll. Sat in the library, she flicked the touchscreen, searching for Grimm activity. Blake sat opposite her, doing the same.

 _"Nouvelle, Blake, I need you to check the news. Find any Grimm sightings and/or disappearances, particularly if there's a pattern. You two are the best with lots of information. See what you can find."_

 _"It vill be done, Jet."_

 _"Got it."_

* * *

Yang sat at Junior's bar, watched over by several distant bouncers. She was waiting for Junior.

 _"Yang, I need you to check on the darker networks of information. Find out if your friend Junior knows anything about sightings and disappearances. Rumours and speculation."_

 _"I gotcha."_

* * *

Weiss, Izzet and Lilac flew across several rooftops as they passed by a street. Unceasing, they continued their swift scouting of Vale.

 _"Izzet, Lilac, Weiss, I need you to group up and move through Vale. I need you to record anything suspicious, and take particular note of any areas of Vale that people avoid."_

 _"You can count on us."_

 _"Very well."_

* * *

Ruby stood next to Jet as they surveyed Beacon from the roof of the cafeteria. He had his arm around her, and she held him close with both of hers wrapped around him.

 _"Ruby, stay with me. If anyone finds anything, we need to be on high alert. I'll need you to be with me to be at full combat potential."_

She looked at her love. He was staring out into the distance. His hard look had returned.

Jet was in his 'purposeful mode'.

She squeezed him tighter, causing him to turn towards her. His emerald eyes softened as they met hers.

"Jet, this madness thing." Ruby said. "Can you return to normal after Flux is beaten?"

Jet was silent, and Ruby couldn't help but worry. Then, he turned and hugged her.

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it." Jet replied. "But you and I, we're like demi-gods. The world is our oyster." He smiled at her. "We can do practically anything if we want to."

That didn't reassure Ruby, who shuddered a little. Jet was dancing around it, and he knew it.

"What if you can't?" Ruby asked, keeping a tight hold. "What if you go mad, and leave me?"

She heard a sigh from her love, before he gently broke out of her grip and took her hands in his own.

"Thank you for worrying so much about me." Jet said with a warm smile, akin to the one he wore when they had first met. "But one of the main reasons I'm fighting this hard, sacrificing this much of myself, is for you, Ruby." He put a thin finger on Ruby's mouth as she attempted to speak. "I would die a hundred deaths, then burn in hell each time, if it meant you could see the light of day. If I fall to this corruption, I would fall knowing I protected you and ended one of the many threats to your safety, and the safety of the people around you."

He released her, and Ruby immediately grabbed his loose hand. Tears had sprung to the surface of Ruby's eyes.

"Don't you know I feel the same way about you?" Ruby asked him. "When I see you like this, throwing everything away, not caring about your own life or your future, it really makes me sad. I wanna be with you Jet, for a long time, until we die." She held up the ring Jet had got her on her finger. "So I don't want you to die before our life really begins. I don't want you to lose everything before you leave with me. I want you alive, and whole, with me. Can't you see that?"

She was full on crying at this point, but Ruby didn't care. She desperately wanted Jet to see the point. He was still smiling at her.

"Ruby, I can promise you one thing. I am not going to fall easily. You can count on that." Jet reassured, and then pulled the still tearful Ruby into a hug, allowing her to dry her eyes on his jacket while he looked outwards on the snow-flecked grounds of Beacon.

* * *

Izzet slowed time as she crossed the gap between two rooftops with ease, catching up with Lilac and Weiss. Her teammate, having her adaptive hair semblance, was using it to spring from roof to roof, elongating it quickly and hardening it before subsequently returning it into its original form.

Weiss constructed another Glyph, soaring up to a taller building after making eye contact. Concerned, Izzet opened a telepathic connection with Lilac.

 _'She's avoiding me.'_ Izzet thought.

"Me too. You think something's bothering her about us?" Lilac asked.

 _'I'll take us to her.'_ Izzet sent, then held out a hand. Lilac took it, and she completely stopped time. Lilac picked her up and jumped, following Weiss.

Upon landing, they saw Weiss had already crossed two more of the grey buildings.

She hadn't waited for them.

 _'Something's definitely wrong.'_ Izzet commented _. 'We need to trap her and find out what.'_

"Got it." Lilac responded as she leaped over the distance in one bound, stopping in front of the statue of Weiss. Izzet, unprepared for the sudden jump, flew forwards off of the small building's roof!

She fell into the streets, where she hit the ground, hard.

Izzet felt pain everywhere, and tried to roll over, but she was rewarded with a further fall into a dark hole, where no light existed.

She tried to sit up, and as she did so, she felt something wet with a horrendous stench, and screamed as loud as she could. Disgust and horror overtook her.

* * *

Jet wondered briefly how his team of six, not including himself and Ruby, had progressed in their assigned tasks. He and Ruby sat on the same roof as before, and he watched as she played with Crescent Rose.

She was bored, but there was nothing he could do. He was absent-mindedly tossing a spark of his aura from hand to hand, and he was not above admitting to himself that he was bored too.

Suddenly, a grey light appeared before him, before it switched to purple, then back to grey. Ruby watched it, almost entranced, until Jet cuffed her with his wing to get her back into reality.

"That's Lilac's signal. She's calling us." Jet explained, getting up. He crouched, offering his back, but a huff from Ruby made him look up.

"I can move on my own, you know." Ruby pouted, and Jet gave her a small grin.

"Try to keep up." he teased, and took flight immediately, looking behind him to see a red blur already streaking across the buildings in his wake. He picked up speed, and soared, half relaxing and half speeding through the air.

* * *

Jet landed before Lilac in a flurry of black rose petals and purple flames, feeling Ruby next to him instantaneously. He looked upon Lilac and Weiss, who wore worried expressions.

"Izzet fell from the roof, landed in there." Lilac said, quickly. "She yelled for us not to come in there."

"Is it Flux?" Jet asked, forgetting that only he, Ruby and Ozpin knew what she looked like.

"We don't know. We called you because you're invulnerable to anything that might be down there." Weiss replied. Jet turned to Ruby.

"Wait here. I shouldn't need to go far. You know the signal if I need help." Jet instructed, then leapt down the manhole, into a complete blackness.

' _Izzet? Where are you?_ ' Jet sent, the smell of the sewer that he was in momentarily causing him to gag. He flared his flames, trying to get through this unnatural darkness, but to no avail.

' _I'm here, Jet! H-help!_ ' Izzet called, and the darkness lessened just enough to see she was trapped against the wall by a tendril of what looked like slime and darkness. Grabbing it, and not thinking about what this gooey, slimy, unsanitary thing could be made of, ripped it with a single tug. It came loose with very little resistance, and as it broke, the darkness dissipated.

He pulled Izzet away from the wall, and the shuddering girl clutched at him. He looked up at the ceiling in time to see a message carved into the stone.

'I'm closer than you think.'

"Flux." Jet growled aloud, causing Izzet to look up at him worriedly. "Well, we at least know she's active."

' _Can we get out of here? I can't see anything_!' Izzet called out.

' _No problem_.' Jet replied, before picking up Izzet and carrying her in a bridal carry back to the manhole, before he used his unnatural strength to leap back out of it. Bursting forth, the sudden entry into the sunny street blinded him.

Shutting his eyes, he lowered Izzet down blindly, before catching an 'eww' from Ruby.

"What's the matter?" Jet asked, using his sixth sense to locate her while his eyes adjusted.

"You're all smelly, and covered in green…stuff." Ruby said.

"It does smell pretty bad." Lilac commented, as the silhouette of Weiss he could 'see' with his senses held its nose.

"Fine. Izzet and I will retreat to the showers." Jet announced. "Ruby, join up with Weiss and Lilac, but don't ever let yourself get hurt."

"Yes dad." Ruby said in a bored tone.

"Don't get up to anything funny, you two." Lilac added cheekily. Jet's eyes shot open and he knew Izzet would be surprised too.

"What do your take me for?" Jet countered, flashing her a grin. He then turned to Izzet. "We'll meet up at our dorm. See you there."

He then stopped time, and begun the journey back to Beacon, only remembering to take flight after making it about halfway. Truthfully, he was more than a little distracted by the repugnant smell coming from his hands.

* * *

Upon his warp to the dorm room, he discovered Izzet already there. She gave him a little smile, as if to say 'I beat you here.' He gave her a pragmatic grin, and realised that she had already showered. How she had done it that quickly was beyond him.

He tipped his head to the shower, and she nodded. Between him and his partner, no words were needed, telepathic or otherwise.

In Theyl, where they had first met, they were known as the Storm of Silence.

Entering the expanded shower (on Lilac's insistence – she was actually claustrophobic), he hit the on button and the water shot out in great gouts of icy streams. He retreated, shuddering from their touch, and raised the thermostat.

 _'Jet?'_ Izzet sent via telepathy as he stepped inside.

 _'Yes?'_ he returned as he begun washing his hands of the green goop that had covered him before.

 _'What's our next move?'_ she asked.

 _'Two days left before we move.'_ Jet replied. _'Ozpin will be offering us a mission which matches with ours. We strike Flux on that day.'_

Jet leant back underneath the shower, allowing his hair to be soaked by the onrushing water.

 _'Do you think the others are ready?'_ Jet heard Izzet reply.

 _'Ready? In what way?'_ Jet responded. It took a small moment for Izzet to send her response.

 _'I think our spirits are low, even yours, Jet.'_ Izzet replied. _'Even if we work hard, morale can mean the difference between life and death out there. Belief is as important as strength or soul.'_

 _'What do you suggest?'_ Jet asked. _'Some sort of uplifting activity?'_

 _'Well…'_ Izzet mused as Jet rubbed shampoo into his black locks, _'perhaps we could take a leaf out of Yang's book. Invite all of them out to a bar, maybe a disco night? Something that is both bonding and exciting. Ruby's not of age, there again neither are you…'_ she trailed off.

 _'That shouldn't be a problem.'_ Jet replied. _'We can pass for eighteen, and if anyone gets near us, just remember what I am.'_

 _'An Angel of Darkness._ ' Izzet asserted, as Jet washed the suds out of his hair. _'How are you feeling?'_

Jet considered this as he switched the water off. He stepped out of the shower and reached for the towel marked with his name, black, like most things around him, and dried off. The question resonated within him.

How _did_ he feel?

Fear. Determination. Anger. Insecurity.

All of these emotions surged through him in torrents, concealed behind his sanity, a roiling maelstrom that he did his utmost to conceal.

Fear of losing Ruby.

Determination of ending Flux's threat.

Anger at her disregard for humanity, and at the need to hide themselves in darkness.

Insecurity of his purpose, and his body, which was nearing the verge of destroying itself.

He tried to transmit that feeling to Izzet, the tide of emotions that he very rarely allowed to show. He hoped she'd gotten the message, the full feeling as only a telepath could feel it.

 _'Oh my.'_ was all she replied with, before he dressed and stepped through the door, into Izzet's waiting arms. ' _You poor thing._ '

Jet let her cuddle him. He needed it. His whole body was shaking. Rare was it that he felt this way, so uncertain, so vulnerable. His own emotions, mostly repressed ever since Flux had arisen again, finally shook him. He mentally slapped himself as his emotions continued to dominate his mind.

' _Keep it together, you idiot_.' Jet thought angrily to himself, but it seemed Izzet had heard him.

' _Don't be so hard on yourself._ ' Izzet reprimanded, now refusing to let go. _'If it hadn't been for me, you wouldn't have seen just how badly you need support.'_

' _I don't need help_.' Jet thought back. ' _I need to be strong for those fighting with me, for Ruby, and for you.'_

 _'No man is a fortress._ ' Izzet replied. _'If you insist on keeping yourself bottled up, then I won't force you. But at least let your true emotions loose while it's just you and me. I wanted to support you since the beginning, and I will not back down from the love of my life now.'_

She was hugging him tighter as she said this, and she pulled him onto her own bed, never once letting go. She was right. He could drop the façade while he was with her, a privilege he didn't even get with Ruby, lest he worry her even more than she already was worried for him.

He heard the door to their dorm room open, and felt Izzet shift as she laid his head in her lap. His eyes were closed, but he still sensed his two teammates enter before jumping back in surprise.

"Sorry, Izzet. Ve have ze results." Nouvelle said, and Jet guessed that Izzet had reprimanded them for the noise.

"It's fine." Jet spoke aloud as he sat up, forcing Izzet to release him. "What did you all find?"

* * *

"So nothing." Jet concluded, after about five minutes.

"Yup." Lilac replied. "Apart from Izzet's fall, nothing much happened. Based on Team RWBY's reports, nothing useful was gleamed either. Junior didn't know much, Blake and Nouvelle's search came up with nothing, and we didn't see anything. What now?"

"We all know Flux will strike soon, thanks to our forewarning here." Jet said, patting Izzet's shoulder, causing the telepath to blush. "But after a bit of thought, I think we should cut loose. Send an invite to team RWBY to join us at Junior's bar right now. Once we do, we'll have a little fun for a change."

"Wait, I do not understand." Nouvelle quipped. "If Flux vill attack soon, we should be trying to defend against 'er. Drinking vill only make it easier for our enemies."

"That's the thing." Jet replied with a grin. "We know she won't move for another five days. We only need two to reach her. Do you really need three days to recover?"

His response was met by Lilac giving him her trademark cheeky grin, Nouvelle breaking into one of her own, and Izzet concealing her sign of happiness behind her hand.


	14. Chapter 14 - Crash and Burn

Ruby sat atop her floating bunk, brooding silently. She'd been frustrated by failure in their search, and it was so annoying. She'd wanted to impress Jet, to show him that even though he was leagues away from her in terms of how powerful he was, she could still help him in some ways.

She felt someone jump up onto the bed with her, and rolled over to see Yang's cheery face, though it fell slightly once she saw her grimace.

"What's gotten you down, sis?" Yang asked, tossing something across the room onto Blake's bed. "I wasn't going to miss!" she retorted at a hiss from the faunus.

"It's nothing, just wanted to seem more helpful, that's all." Ruby replied.

"To hell with that." Yang said almost immediately. "Ruby, you're a major part of his plan. Heck, you are the source of his power, if you two told us the truth."

"It just doesn't feel right." Ruby commented. "My role is to stay alive, to not take any risks, rather than actually helping people. It feels like he's off leading the charge, and I'm the one stuck eating his dust. I just don't feel noticed as much as before."

"Well, here's your chance." Blake said from her left, and Yang caught something black that had been thrown. A closer look revealed it was Blake's scroll. Yang read the message aloud.

"Hey, this is from Lilac, so sorry, I forgot to swap scroll idents with you, Jet's proposing a night at Junior's bar tonight. All of us are going and we figured why not invite you too? We're expecting our enemy to make their move in about five days, according to Izzet's foresight, so I'm sure this won't affect our combat potential. Cheers, Lilac."

Ruby was stunned. After the seriousness of before, now he was asking them to a night of partying?

"There you go." Yang said with a cheeky wink. "This might open him up a little."

"But I'm not even old enough to drink." Ruby whined. "And neither is Jet."

"I think I can get Junior to turn a blind eye. And do you really think age can stop Jet if he wants to have a drink?" Yang asked. "Besides, you could talk to him when his guard is down and get some more information that you want."

Ruby sighed after Yang got off her bed. Could he be any more confusing?

* * *

As Ruby entered through the front doors of the lit up doorway, she felt eyes on her coming from multiple directions. Recognising some of the thugs she met before Beacon, their suits and orange glasses clearly marking them against the guests, she gave an awkward wave, before searching for Jet. She located Nouvelle and Lilac at the bar, but Jet and Izzet were nowhere to be seen.

Slightly irritated, she felt herself being pushed down to the dance floor area by Yang. She gave a very Jet-like hiss, and heard a short chuckle from Yang as she pointed to a large table on the opposite side of the dance floor. Jet was there, seemingly having a staring contest with Izzet, though Ruby knew he was most likely having a silent conversation with her.

As she approached, Jet suddenly broke out in laughter, and Izzet covered her mouth, hiding an otherwise obvious smile. A blush rushed to Ruby's face, originally thinking he was laughing at her, until he said aloud "Surely you're kidding, Izzet!"

The telepath shook her head, and punched her own open palm, before making a strangling motion and rolling her eyes with a disturbing instant where her eyes were pure white. Jet's laughter grew harder, drawing a few stares from other patrons before he calmed down, and Ruby felt it safe to approach him.

"Oh, hi Ruby." Jet said breathlessly, before twitching as another giggle overtook him.

' _I was telling him about one of the more… funny stories that I had to share._ ' Izzet explained as Yang sat opposite her, with Ruby sitting next to Jet. She saw the tears in his eyes, though they were tears of laughter. She rubbed his back, not sure what to do, though smiling all the same as Jet put his arm around her reassuringly.

"I'm fine, it's okay." Jet said, before letting go of her and clasping his hands on the table. In the background, Ruby could hear a jazzy number being played, with several people already dancing. A moment later, Lilac, Nouvelle and Blake returned with the drinks. Yang and Blake seemed to be having beers, along with Nouvelle and Izzet. Lilac was having wine, and Yang handed her a glass of cherry soda.

"Here's yours, Jet!" Yang yelled over the disco, which was starting to pick up. She handed Jet another cherry soda, which he sipped, before turning and grinning at Ruby.

' _I asked them to slip a little Bacardi in there._ ' Jet said, using his own telepathy to communicate with Ruby. A jab of jealousy pricked her emotions, and she looked over at Yang to see her trying to cover her grin. ' _In my defence_ ,' Jet continued quickly, attracting her gaze, ' _it's not that strong_.'

' _Still… that's alcoholic, right?'_ Ruby thought back. She reached over for Jet's glass, but he put a hand on hers, before turning to Izzet and giving her a wink. She then turned to Yang and Blake, before attracting their attention. He then slid his glass into her hand with a grin. She returned it before taking a sip. He'd planned this.

The fizzy taste of the cherry was still there, and for a moment, Ruby wondered if Jet was bluffing. Then, a strange aftertaste hit her buds, light but noticeable. It was a nice offset to the soda, and she gave a grudging smile as he quickly took the glass back. She'd once snuck a sip of Yang's beer, only to gag enough for her big sister to notice. But this was nice.

The crowd on the dance floor was getting larger, and Ruby wished she had Jet's telepathy to attract Yang's attention. She was chatting merrily to Nouvelle, seemingly oblivious to the growing volume of the music, and Ruby nudged Jet before pointing to Yang. Her love nodded, then sent a telepathic message to Yang, who turned.

"WHAT ARE WE HAVING FOR FOOD?!" Ruby yelled in her loudest voice possible, but Yang merely put a hand to her ear and cupped it, indicating she couldn't hear her. She turned back to Jet, who nodded, and stared at Yang. She locked eyes with Jet, before returning to her inaudible conversation with Nouvelle.

"YANG SAYS GET IT FROM THE BAR, HER TREAT!" Jet shouted over the music, clearly forgetting his telepathy for a second. "COME WITH ME, I'VE GOTTEN EVERYONE'S ORDERS!"

Wondering how on Remnant he'd communicated with all five of their companions, Ruby nodded and stood up, excusing herself with Jet. Reaching the bar area, they were relieved to hear that the music was only loud down on the disco floor. Jet took a seat at the bar, and Ruby moved to sit next to him, when she felt a hand pat her shoulder.

Turning, she saw one of the suited bouncers. He was wearing a stern expression, though he honestly looked the same as any other goon.

"Hey, you remember me?" the man growled. Ruby's heart skipped a beat. This guy was-

"You're that guy who tried to rob me!" Ruby exclaimed. She reached for her scythe, but the man held his hands up.

"Easy there, I'm not going to try again. In fact, I wanna thank you." the goon said quickly. At Ruby's raised eyebrow, he continued. "Thanks to you, I stopped working for Torchwick, and wasn't arrested with him."

"You're welcome… I guess?" Ruby said awkwardly, not knowing what to make of this guy. He glanced at Jet behind her.

"He your man?" he asked.

"Yep." Ruby answered without thinking.

"I saw how nervous you are, don't try and hide it." the man said. "Here's a gift, use it when you want some courage. It doesn't taste of anything."

Ruby saw him pull a small bottle of clear liquid and hand it to her, before walking off. Ruby looked at the bottle in her hand suspiciously, then put it in her pocket. A tap on her shoulder from Jet meant he'd made his orders, and they walked down, her mind buzzing. What was the stuff she'd just got?

She stopped, and waited for Jet to turn away, before she uncorked the little bottle and gave it an experimental sniff. It smelled strongly of alcohol, and she instantly tossed the stuff in the bin. Even as she did so, a crazy idea began to form in her mind.

One that would get Jet's attention, and maybe even…

She smiled to herself.

* * *

Jet reached back for Ruby's hand and took her back through the crowd on the dance floor. He had sensed that guy behind him talking to Ruby. Ruby had been in-between them though, so he hadn't seen what had happened. He had felt Ruby toss something though, possibly in a bin or other orifice. What had it been?

Jet reached the table after shoulder barging a large man out of his way, his powers fuelling his muscles. Reaching the table, Ruby took her seat next to him as he sat down.

The noise was deafening now. It sounded like a cacophony of loud bangs and strums of a guitar, coupled with the occasional voice that would pierce his eardrums like a needle roughly jabbed into leather. The lights were changing too. Stars swept across the room of varying sizes and colours, all a metropolis of seizure-inducing flashes and beams.

He barely heard Lilac yelling that the food had arrived until it was put in front of him. He'd ordered a burger and chips, and judging by the similar food that was in front of the rest, he assumed everyone else had ordered something similar.

He could feel a burgeoning pain in his forehead as he took his first bite of the grease-soaked burger. Working his jaw to tear up the meat within his mouth, he was blinded by a sweeping light that caused him to pre-emptively swallow. Making sure he didn't choke, he continued to slowly eat, undisturbed. It seemed that Ruby and everyone else was having their own conversation.

Hold up. Jet suddenly realised that Weiss was missing. He looked around, and now made the connection. Weiss hadn't come. What a shame. Jet tucked into his fries as he wondered why Weiss would miss out. There again, she probably wasn't a fan of this kind of thing. He could admit to himself; it wasn't his cup of tea either.

The pain in his head was increasing. Figuring that it was because of the ridiculously loud music, he excused himself from the table with a gesture, and headed for the exit.

* * *

Jet immediately moved past a couple smoking by the entrance, and immediately ducked into an alleyway. There, he leant against the wall and massaged his pounding head. Here, away from the noise and the partial darkness, he hoped his pain would die down after a period of time.

A minute passed. Two. An old lady walked past him. Three minutes. Five.

The pain wasn't stopping. In fact, it was getting worse.

Jet summoned his flames, immediately concentrating his powers on numbing the pain. They swirled around him, soothing, warm, heating his body, then burning… wait, burning?!

As soon as Jet noticed, the flames ceased their numbing of his head, and the hurt returned with a vengeance, developing into agony. He sunk to the floor, uncaring of where he laid, and clutched his forehead, bowing his head. The fire seared his skin, no longer an ally but a traitorous force of pure hatred embezzled upon him.

It was only then that Jet realised. He'd felt this before!

He screamed out involuntarily as the Reversion took his body and mind, enveloping him with pain-fuelled spasms. No. Jet steeled himself, trying to regain control of his flaming body. He heard a gasp behind him and a call for help, but he couldn't focus on the owner. His wings burst from his shirt and a scream echoed outwards as he finally could keep himself still.

Now to endure.

Jet kept still, not moving, as the fire increased in size and ferocity. His eyes were clamped shut, and he was resisting the pain through sheer force of will.

This would not take him. Not now!

After several more agony filled seconds of blazing torment, the fire died down, and Jet moved his muscles bit by bit until he could rise to his feet. Strength. He could feel pure strength flowing through his veins again.

But how could this happen again so soon after the first episode? That was literally just over six hours!

"Jesus man, you alright?"

A voice from somewhere above him. Jet opened his eyes and stood up straight to see a ginger haired man in shorts and a red t-shirt that had the words 'Beer is the greatest gift of the gods'. He was staring at him with a concerned expression. Jet's heart jumped into his throat as he realised these two had seen possibly everything!

"How much of that did you two see?" he asked, tucking his wings back behind him.

"Most of it, man. You okay?" the man replied. The woman, however, had her hands up to her mouth. Did she know?

"I'm fine." Jet replied, holding a smoking hand to his forehead. "But I need you two to forget what you just saw."

"You… you're an Angel aren't you?" the woman stuttered, pointing at him. Jet didn't respond, but immediately threw a very accurate punch at the man's forehead, connecting with the speed and strength gifted to him, such that it knocked him unconscious in one hit.

He dashed quickly to the woman before she could turn to run and repeated the process, knocking her over and out for the count. He didn't regret using his powers for this purpose, but at the same time, it struck him with a little guilt to see them fall after showing such concern for him.

He heard footsteps at the end of the alleyway, and whirled around to see Ruby running towards him.

"Hey sexyyy" she slurred, and slammed her lips upon his own upon reaching him, not taking any notice of the two unconscious people behind him. Jet, shocked as he was, immediately broke it. Ruby was panting, almost like an animal, and Jet took a step back as she advanced on him. What was going on now?


	15. Chapter 15 - On Stage, Encore

"Ruby!" Jet hissed as she attempted to kiss him again. "We can't do this here!"

"Why… not?" Ruby asked in between deep breaths. "Don't you want me anymore?"

"You know that's not true." Jet replied. "But I can't do it here. It's too public- hnng!" he groaned a little as Ruby put a hand on his swelling crotch.

"Put up a dark field or something." Ruby said, almost begging now. Jet internally cursed his luck. Whatever was causing a sudden burst of sexual desire in his girlfriend was clearly powerful. He grabbed her other hand, trying his utmost to ignore the hand on his balls, and froze time, before flinging Ruby onto his back with a surprised 'eep' and taking off, headed for Beacon.

This sexual contact was unavoidable, it seemed.

* * *

After enduring a good five minutes with Ruby stroking his wings and caressing his back mid-flight, Jet was finding it harder and harder to control himself as he blazed through the monochrome night. What on Remnant had happened? Ruby was normally more modest than not, and he'd never known her to do things like this unless he set up the mood himself.

Yet there she was, rubbing his back and whispering comments that he'd long since tuned out. The lustful devil continued, and Jet swore in thanks as they reached Beacon. Normally, he would have shot straight to the medical facilities, but the alcohol was starting to make his mind a little fuzzy, and it was clear that Ruby needed to be satisfied.

Only he could do it.

* * *

He walked to the door of LIJN's dorm room, carrying Ruby on his back, now resisting his urges with even more intensity than before. He wanted to tear her clothes off and ravish her, but he also wanted to be gentle, so as to not hurt her.

"C'mon Ruby." he said as he hefted her through the door into the deserted dorm room, allowing time to flow again. "Let's take a shower, get clean."

Ruby didn't say anything, and Jet took her into the shower of his dorm, standing her in the expanded shower and proceeded to take his clothes off. Once he'd stripped off, he turned back to Ruby, only to realise that she was pouting at him, having not taken any of her clothes off.

"Why were you ignoring me?" she asked in a childishly sulky voice. She sat down on the floor of the shower and watched as Jet approached her. He deliberately knelt down so that his member (rock hard as it was) was in-between his legs, and impossible to grab.

"Because I was trying to stay in control, Ruby." Jet replied, and Ruby smiled at him.

"So you _were_ turned on." she said with a cheeky grin.

"I was." Jet replied, as he raised his right hand and projected a dark field. "Let's get those clothes off."

He unbuttoned Ruby's cloak and let it fall, then lifted Ruby's shirt over her head, revealing her bra, which he skilfully unhitched and removed. Lifting her smooth legs, he lifted her jeans off and then moved forwards to get her panties. Ruby leaned forward too, and their lips met, not in a lustful kiss, but a passionate one, gentle and tender. Jet reached out and pulled her head closer, deepening their embrace.

After breaking the kiss, Ruby leant back so that Jet could see her whole body. She had a very joyful smile as she allowed him to see her perfect body (to him, at least).

"Can I say something?" Ruby asked, her eyes growing wider as she looked at him worriedly. "I was faking being drunk."

"You were faking?!" Jet hissed. He hadn't thought it possible with the way she drooped and loped around, not to mention the slur in her words. He turned his head to the side, deciding to be a little mean, frowning but still looking at her with his left eye as he moved Ruby's discarded clothing out of the shower. "Sure fooled me."

"I wanted to make you want me even more." Ruby admitted, blushing a little. "But you cared about me. You took me home, and you were going to wash me and put me to bed because you were worried about me. Thank you, Jet."

With that, she got onto her hands and knees and crawled over to Jet. He expected her to push him down and embrace him again, despite the cold tiled floor, but instead she circled around him. Jet turned curiously but stopped when he felt a hand on his left wing.

"I always wanted to feel these." Ruby said, softly. Understanding now, Jet extended his wings, awaiting her touch. It was one of the most sacred forms of trust to Jet, as a potential assailant could easily cut them off in Ruby's position. Though she didn't know it, his ability to fly was in Ruby's hands.

And yet her touch was gentle, relaxing. He felt her fingers as they delved through his feathers, reaching their roots, the muscled limb that they were attached to. Jet simply sat there, relishing this new sensation.

"So soft…" Ruby whispered, for the room was quieter than a ghost town. "So warm…"

Jet then felt a tugging sensation, and realised with a jolt upon turning his head that Ruby had plucked one of his feathers! The black raven's feather was being twirled by his lover, and upon seeing the root, which was not dark, but a pale white, he realised that the feather would have fallen anyway. He put it out of his mind as he spun around to face Ruby.

"Clearly you like my wings." Jet said softly, the last feathers of the wing slipping through Ruby's fingers as he moved them back. He turned the shower on as he embraced her again.

"They're gentle. They look tough, but they're nice. Just like you." Ruby said with a relaxed look. Jet felt his heart skip a beat. He'd never been described in that way before. "Please take care of me." she implored.

"I will." Jet replied, before he reached for her breasts, and pulled her into the warm shower at the same time, peeling her panties off in one deft move. The feel of the warm water was wonderful on his back, and he felt his lover put her soft hands on said back, clenching his muscles that connected to his wings. Lifting her up, he stood, and pressed her against the wall under the shower head, feeling her lustful shudder even as he allowed his own drive to take his mind.

Ruby knelt down, and Jet leaned against the wall for support as she wrapped her mouth once more around his hard-on. His knees buckled under this pleasure, and he stood there as she moved in and out, in and out. He closed his eyes and felt his senses jar into life, feeling each spark of pleasure like a lightning bolt, and it felt so good. Jet reached down and stroked the silky hair on the head of his lover, and heard, over the shower and the smacking sounds, a click. He put it to the back of his mind, focussing on what Ruby wanted. Speaking of which, he had a question that could only be answered now.

"Ruby?" he asked, opening his eyes and looking down. Ruby gazed up at him, his member still in her mouth.

"Mmm?" she replied, the vibrations causing him to shudder.

"Last time, I stopped you before I could come in your mouth." Jet said. "Do you want it in your mouth?"

"Mm mn." Ruby said, shaking her head, then pointed with the hand not on his member to her entrance.

"I understand." Jet replied, then forcefully pulled out, causing Ruby to gasp for breath. If she wanted the same treatment as before, he would give it to her.

"Sorry." Ruby apologised ruefully as Jet's mouth neared her own entrance. "I don't like sticky things that much."

"That's natural." Jet replied, before latching on to Ruby, forcing her legs apart as he searched aggressively for that spot he found the last time, rational thought gone completely at this point. As his tongue forged its way through her delicate folds, he heard gasps and moans from Ruby, and knew he was close to finding it. Then, he located it, that semi-rough spot within. Ruby toppled over onto her back, leaning up against the wall as Jet, lying on his stomach, continued to pinpoint her sensitive spot.

"Right there, ooh, right there Jet!" Ruby moaned as he picked up the pace fearlessly, knowing what he wanted now. Ruby twitched and clamped her legs around his head, effectively keeping him there as she put her bare little feet on his back. The smooth skin of her legs brushed against his clean shaven face, turning him on all the while.

Then, she let go, pressing herself against him, and Jet braced himself. A torrent of her cum blasted forth, nearly catching him off guard, but having learnt from the last time, gulped the sweet liquid down, not stopping until she was done. As soon as it ended, he detached and gasped for air, Ruby's own shuddering gasps audible all the while.

And something else, too.

He closed his eyes, reaching out with his sixth sense. The door behind him was now ajar, and Jet knew he'd closed it. Reaching further out, he realised someone was there. Someone was watching them!

"One second, Ruby." Jet muttered darkly, stopping time before she could comment. He stepped out of the shower, away from the naked statue of Ruby, and opened the grey door on the other side of the bathroom. He hissed involuntarily as he found a familiar statue peering through the door.

It was Izzet. And she had one hand down her trousers, another up her shirt. It didn't take a genius to realise that she was touching herself while she was peeping on them. It took Jet a full second, watching from the time-stop, to realise why. He was shocked by his conclusion though. Never had he thought Izzet ever fantasised their relationship like that, but thinking about it, she did enjoy his attention. Perhaps it was fitting.

Stepping steadily behind her, Jet ended the time stop, and just before he grasped Izzet's shoulders, he heard her moan, softly and lightly.

It was like a plea to be satisfied.

"Surprise!" he yelled, grabbing her, though her instinctive twitch caused her to nearly slip out of his grip, though this had the effect of spinning her around to face him. He stared into her shocked eyes, her hands instantly ceasing their actions as they whipped out to resist.

Jet pushed his captive through the door of the bathroom, hearing a 'what?' from Ruby before she gave a small squeal, crossing her legs and folding her arms to cover herself. Izzet struggled, but against his grip, she was trapped like a mouse in a bottle.

"Wh-what a-are you doing here?!" Ruby yelled, stuttering and blushing in embarrassment. Izzet remained silent, bowing her head, an equally embarrassed blush on her face.

Izzet attempted to stop time, but Jet countered, drawing power from the dark field to negate her powers. Izzet tried twice more, but both were nullified by the overwhelming power of the Angel of Darkness.

"Maybe you want to see this, Ruby." Jet replied, and activated Ruby's semblance, dropping Izzet's trousers before she could react, revealing pink underwear that was clearly soaked with her arousal.

 _'Eee!'_ came Izzet's response. _'Jet, stop!'_

"See?" Jet asked Ruby softly, as her eyes widened upon seeing Izzet's wetness, sensing a rare opportunity. "She's rather turned on as well, watching us, though it must have been agonising as well." He looked into Izzet's mismatched eyes, which were wide with shock. "You probably wish someone would do that to you too."

"Did you, um," Ruby said, still seemingly embarrassed by the situation she was in, "want to join us?" Her blush deepened as Izzet turned towards her, her facial expression now reflecting her eyes.

 _'Why would you ask such a thing?'_ she asked in return.

"Well, you were clearly enjoying the show." Jet replied, grinning. "And I can easily handle both of you. You both know that."

There was a moment of silence. Jet let go of Izzet and walked to Ruby, where he laid down next to her under the shower. She curled around his right arm, gazing up at his secret lover, who seemed to be steeling herself. Then, she looked straight into his eyes, the blush still present.

 _'Y… yes. If I may._ ' she sent, before looking at Ruby. Jet knew what she meant. He was fine with satisfying both of them, but if Ruby didn't want Izzet involved, he'd have to deal with it.

"Come here, then. Join me with Jet." she said with a surprisingly calm voice, and smiled at Izzet, who returned it, her blush fading as she pulled her shirt off, revealing that she wasn't wearing a bra, and lowered her panties, before she stepped into the shower with them. She fell next to Jet's other arm, and embraced it too.

"Alright then." Jet said, watching as Ruby got up on all fours and crawled around him and towards Izzet. "Let's get you caught up on things."

 _'Make me yours, just like Ruby._ ' Izzet sent. He wondered briefly, as she laid on her back, whether Ruby had heard that. Deciding not to press, he turned to Ruby beside him.

"Can you touch her just like I touched you?" Jet asked her, as he leaned down in preparation to pierce Izzet's entrance with his fingers. He saw her nod, and moved until she was directly above Izzet, before kneeling down so that Izzet was between her legs, and began to fondle her admittedly fuller breasts gently. At the same time, Jet's middle finger entered her, and he began his search for that one spot that Ruby had. He knew that if he could find it, he'd have his target for when he entered the next stage. Hearing squeaking moans from Izzet, he noticed Ruby's entrance was pressing against Izzet's body, and moved his other hand near.

He plunged forth with both hands into the flowers of both his girls, hearing gasps from both. He instantly found Ruby's weak spot, still bristling from his earlier treatment. Izzet's on the other hand, was annoyingly not in the same spot. He angled upwards within her folds, determined to find that pressure point.

After half a minute of searching, during which Ruby continued to pleasure Izzet, he found it. Her rough spot was smaller than Ruby's. No wonder it was so hard to find.

"Trust me, Jet knows what he's doing." Ruby said in-between shuddering breaths. Using the index fingers, he pressed their sensitive folds, while using his thumbs to tease the clitoris of both girls. His arms were going numb at this rate, and he absorbed energy from the invisible dark flames around him to restore his strength.

As he picked up in speed, Ruby toppled, lying on top of Izzet, their bodies pressed together as Jet raised his speed with another boost from his dark powers. He noticed Ruby beginning to tighten, and empowered his right arm, the one pleasuring Izzet, even further, determined to make them release at the same time.

 _'Jet! I'm, I'm-'_ Izzet sent, but Jet was deafened by a scream from Ruby as she unleashed another spurt of cum. Her juices covered his left arm just as Izzet shrieked and tightened, her own cum spurting out with each thrust. She wasn't much of a squirter, but as Jet maintained his pace on her, having stopped with Ruby, it kept coming!

 _'Jet, STOP!'_ Izzet yelled in his mind after several more seconds, the noise piercing. Jet withdrew his hands and watched as both girls simply laid there, their juices dripping out. He looked at both of his hands. Unlike Ruby's, it seemed Izzet's was a little more sticky, but still more like a jelly that hadn't set. He tasted it, and found it had a slightly stronger flavour as well.

Storing this in his memory, he leant back and summoned his flames. The water hissed and spat as it impacted them, but these flames were of an Angel of Darkness, and would never die. He absorbed more energy, invigorating his right arm in particular, before the flames vanished again.

Fully recharged, he rolled Ruby off Izzet so that both girls were on their backs in front of him. Ruby looked up at him, though Izzet still seemed tired.

"Do me first." Ruby asked. "I think Izzet needs a break."

"As you like." Jet said with a grin. He made to lift Ruby up, but as she stood, she pushed him down. The fire within him roared at his fulcrum's impertinence, but he remained quiet.

"Last time, you made all the effort for me." she whispered over the shower and Izzet's slow breathing. "I want to repay you, my Angel."

"Then, my fulcrum, come." Jet said, and she smiled seductively at him before straddling him, positioning herself over his member. Without waiting, she impaled herself, before lying on him and embracing him. Jet let out a sharp breath as she kissed him, and his flames started to burn anew, enveloping him and Ruby, the girl's aura mixing with the flame and creating a divine warmth.

She then released him, and without even being phased by the fire surrounding her, started to bob up and down. Jet laid back, deciding to allow Ruby the pleasure of servicing him, her angel, and rightful heir to the power of darkness.


	16. Chapter 16 - Detected!

As Ruby picked up her speed, panting heavily, Jet knew he wouldn't last long. His girlfriend was practically perfect for him, the tightness and the moistness creating a pleasure he couldn't resist.

"Are, hah, you, hah, close?" Ruby asked, practically reading his mind. Jet was shocked. Was he becoming that easy to read?

"Yeah." he said, softly, and Ruby immediately hopped off his member. Jet hissed as his own orgasm was denied close to the tip for the second time, the agony almost too much to bear. And yet, even as the sexual part of him demanded he finish himself this time, the rational intervened, reminding him that with him, Ruby normally had a purpose behind her actions.

"I want you to do it in her." Ruby said, pointing at Izzet, who had long since recovered, and was now looking between the Roses of Darkness with a worried expression. Jet smiled as he realised Ruby's selflessness, and a plan formed in his mind. The purple flames vanished around him as he moved towards Izzet slowly, wanting to give her an equal treatment.

 _'Am I dreaming?'_ Izzet asked him, an unreadable expression on her face now. _'Is this real?'_

"Do you interpret this as real?" Jet asked back, and penetrated her entrance. Not nearly as tight as Ruby, it slid in easily, though she clenched around it all the same with a squeak. As he started his rhythm, he felt something weird stir up from within him.

 _'What's this feeling?'_ Izzet asked. Jet didn't answer as he continued to pound her, eliciting gasps and high pitched moans. Something wanted to come out from deep within him.

Something... light!

He felt white flames surround him now, and his purple flames immediately rose in challenge to this new presence. They intermingled, acting with both friendship and hostility towards one another. Warmth and cold mixed within him, and he felt his energy both surge and drain at the exact same moment.

While under the influence of these sensations, he focussed on the one thing he was doing, pleasuring Izzet. He kept thrusting, and as he did so, realised what was going on.

He dispelled his dark flames immediately, and the white fires took full hold. Light welled up within him, bringing with it a sickening feeling. Jet knew now that he had to end this quickly so he could figure out what was going on.

He drew on the light surrounding him, feeling it caress him and heal his muscles, and increased his speed again. At the same time, he plunged three fingers into Ruby's wetness, surprising her as she let out a squeak, but Jet heeded her not. He knew what needed to happen, and as Izzet's moans increased in pace with his high-speed thrusting, he felt himself nearing release.

"Ruby, lie down next to Izzet." he panted, and Ruby moved, obeying his command even as she was pleasured. He hoped he'd time this right.

' _Jet! JET!_ ' Izzet screamed, piercing his mind again with her outcry as she began to cum.

"Me too, Izzet!" Jet yelled, and finally felt the ecstasy of release that he'd been denied, shooting his seed three times into Izzet, the telepath undergoing spasm after spasm as she continuously came over his member.

"I'm close, Jet!" Ruby screamed out, and Jet knew as his fourth release rapidly closed that he had to act fast. Activating Ruby's semblance, he pulled out of Izzet and inserted his still firing rod into Ruby, thrusting hard as he shot three times into her as well, before he ran out of steam. He pulled out as, with an 'aaahhh', Ruby came again for the third time, the shot this time hitting him full in the face as he fell back.

Jet landed on his back in the shower, feeling the pitter-patter of water on his bare chest as his aching muscles, numbed by his powers, demanded rest. He attempted to summon the dark flames to restore him, but after seeing the weak sparks, ceased his efforts. It seemed that even an Angel of Darkness would need rest after that ordeal.

The two girls crawled over to him, both with soft smiles on their faces. Both of them laid on either side of him, embracing him, and Jet wrapped his wings around them in turn, putting an arm around each of them.

 _'Thank you for letting me participate, Jet.'_ Izzet sent. _'I needed this more than you'll ever know.'_

"I love you, Jet." Ruby whispered quietly at the same time.

Jet said nothing, merely holding the two naked girls close to him. For him, the two girls were the two most precious people in the world to him. As he gazed into each of their eyes in turn, he was at peace with himself.

He got up and turned the shower off, his legs feeling weary and stiff. After drying himself off, he turned back to see his lovers getting up, clearly far more tired than he was, Ruby especially. Grabbing two towels, he advanced on the dripping pair before him and dried them off, one by one. He didn't bother with their hair (they would probably kill him if he messed it up in some way) but after their bodies were dry, he stopped time.

He walked into LIJN's dorm room and found Izzet's chest of drawers, pulling out a purple nightie that she wore often, and then walked out the door, completely naked, but without fear. He chuckled to himself as he passed by several students frozen in place in the corridor. He knew they couldn't see him.

He stepped into Team RWBY's dorm to find it surprisingly deserted. Not even Weiss, who he'd thought would have been back here. Regardless, Jet moved to Ruby's clothing storage, and began to rummage. He quickly found her pyjamas, and took the top and bottoms before wandering out of the dorm room.

* * *

Jet returned to team LIJN's dorm room and back into the bathrooms before ending the time stop. He beckoned the weary girls come towards him, and he put the shirt over Ruby's head and the dressing gown over Izzet, before helping Ruby into her trousers.

That job done, he let the two sleepy girls lean on him as he took them into the dorm room. Putting an arm around each, he used his wings to heighten his jump onto his bed, trying his best to take the impact of landing on it himself. He succeeded, thankfully, and Jet slotted each of the girls on either side of the bed, under the soft covers, but he was now faced with an interesting dilemma.

He couldn't sleep on his back, otherwise he'd crush his wings under his own weight over time. This forced him to sleep on his side, but which girl should he face?

"Jet?" he heard Ruby call. His eyes met silver ones.

"Yes?" Jet replied.

"Can you face Izzet tonight?" she asked, before a yawn interrupted what she was about to say next.

"Sure I can, but why?" Jet responded, though he thought he knew the answer.

"I like feeling your wings. I-I won't pluck any feathers!" Ruby said quickly. "I also like hugging the people I love."

"I know, to both." Jet whispered with a smile. "On your wish be it, Ruby."

He slipped under the already warm duvet, and turned towards Izzet, thankful that Ruby solved his problem. He felt his lover embrace him as he held Izzet close.

 _'Still doubt my love for you two?'_ he sent to the telepath, and she met his gaze.

 _'I'm sorry, Jet.'_ was Izzet's only reply, before she embraced him in return with a smile.

* * *

"Wake up!" a stern voice sounded from above Jet. He cracked open his eyes to see none other than Professor Ozpin! What was he doing here?

"Morning." Jet replied sleepily as he looked sideways to see Ruby next to him. Right. They had been doing THAT. Wait a minute. "What are you doing here?" he whispered, trying not to wake up Ruby or Izzet.

"I've received reports to lock down the school, and for your information, it is five-o-clock in the morning." Ozpin said quickly. "Police are already on the way here. What happened?"

"Wait, police?!" Ruby said aloud, making Jet jump, but there again, she must've been awake already.

"That's right." Ozpin replied. "You two need to go, now!"

Jet didn't reply. He instead shot off the bed and stopped time, leaving Izzet asleep. He dragged his backpack from outside the door, and immediately threw two spare shirts and trousers into it, before walking to the wardrobe and throwing in two sets of his usual clothing and a single set of his winter garments.

Closing the first zipper, he opened the second and put his two sets of rations that Lilac had prepared, before moving on to the next, where he threw in several sets of pills with unmarked labels.

Completely packed, he ended the time stop and stood before Ozpin and Ruby with a backpack that bulged in places. He hadn't taken his scroll, as Ironwood or another official of the government could easily track it.

"Ruby. Get your stuff, now!" he commanded. Ruby didn't hesitate, shooting out of the door.

"How long will we have before you guys start tailing us?" Jet asked his professor.

"About an hour." Ozpin replied, with an unfathomable look on his face. "Though I suppose Izzet told you about this too?"

"Yes." Jet replied with a grin. "I'll try not to shoot my peers."

"This is no laughing matter." Ozpin reprimanded. "Do you know where Flux is?"

"Of course." Jet replied. "I won't answer your question though. It'll be harder to track us."

"Speaking of tracking you, I know that certain students will try to come after you." Ozpin said. "Can they find you?"

"If they're who I think they are, then they'll find me easily." Jet answered, just as Ruby shot through the door, bag packed.

"Done!" she said, breathlessly, putting the backpack underneath her cloak. Jet put an arm around her as they both gazed up at their teacher.

"Drinks are on me when I get back." Jet said with a wave.

"I may take you up on that offer, Jet, Ruby." Ozpin replied with a chuckle. "Farewell."

Jet stopped time again, and then, still holding Ruby, nodded to her.

They shot off, Jet and Ruby's semblances allowing them to move as nothing but blurs.


	17. Chapter 17 - Icy Reception

It was a peaceful scene. A frozen lake laid within a clearing of a grand forest, one of the many that stood between the Festung der Schatten and Vale.

Several mountain elks were hammering at the icy surface, breaking it and drinking the water beneath. Crystals of ice hung from their antlers, the leaves of the trees, and some even fell from the sky, all interlacing in a grand network of glittering crystal.

A whistling sound could be heard in the distance, and the two elks glanced, up, before galloping away as a red and a purple blur sped past the lake, glowing glittering trails of black and red rose petals flying behind them sparsely.

* * *

Jet shielded himself from the many whipping branches as he sped through the forest. Ruby was beside him, and the two ran in parallel, ducking and leaping over fallen trees and branches, avoiding the occasional animal that would bay in surprise.

They'd been at this for the good part of half an hour, neither pausing for breath. It was good. It gave him time to think.

They were nearing the edge of the forest, and Jet could see the burgeoning of daylight from within the trees. He made the mistake of letting his focus slip, which resulted in him slamming into a tree. The momentum combined with his strength resulted in him uprooting the tree and catapulting him upwards, flinging him above the treeline, before he landed at the border of the forest.

Ruby was next to him in an instant.

"Are you okay?" she asked. Clearly she hadn't seen what just happened.

"I hit something." Jet admitted. "But it doesn't matter. I think we can stop for now."

"Okay." Ruby replied, before she took out a mat and laid it across the snowy ground. Jet moved onto it, and Ruby pecked him on the cheek as he got close to her. Both were shrouded by purple flames, Jet shielding Ruby.

"It's been about half an hour since we started." Jet said. "And only about another half before we reach the castle." As he said this, Ruby gave him a teary-eyed look.

"We had to leave the others though. My whole team, your whole team." Ruby mumbled. Jet gave his distraught lover a hug, and she settled into his embrace. He knew that she loved her team dearly, and his own team were loyal to each-other unto eternity. To leave them like that filled him with guilt, especially Izzet, who'd probably be broken once she found out he'd ran away with Ruby without her. He hoped she'd understand.

"Jet?" Ruby called, bringing him back to reality. "Can we lie here for a bit?"

"Sure." Jet replied, pulling her down, and embracing her tighter. She curled up in his arms, resting her head on his left arm, giving Jet the opportunity to have the privilege of checking out his lover. His sweet, innocent lover. Well, not so innocent anymore. He reached with his right hand and gently stroked Ruby's hair, not playing with it like he normally did.

"Keep doing that." Ruby whispered. Jet obeyed as she closed her eyes. It felt right to be comforting Ruby like this. If he had a heart, then it would have fluttered at her touch. Jet knew that he had to be strong, for Ruby.

"It'll all be okay." Jet said, watching as tears appeared in Ruby's eyes. "Don't worry. Everything will be okay."

"Th-thank you." Ruby responded quietly, curling up even tighter. "Mum."

Jet was taken aback. Was he reminding Ruby of her mother? He knew Ruby was torn up about her death, after quizzing Yang about their parents. If that was the case, he'd do his best to comfort her as her mum would.

"Don't worry, Ruby, I'll keep you safe. They can't hurt you." Jet whispered. As he did it, he reached up into the sky and constructed a dark field, forming a dome around them. Repulsing the cold and snow, the inside warmed up. "Go to sleep. You'll be fine."

He was rewarded by the sight of a wide smile on Ruby's face, a tear running down her cheek, before the sound of heavy breathing. As much as he needed to keep moving, he knew that they were safe. Even if those chasing them now were to happen upon this spot, the dark field would make sure they were safe.

There again, it would mean their teams wouldn't find them.

He remained with Ruby, lying with her, stroking her even as she slept next to him. She was so beautiful in the distorted sunlight, her skin like pale marble, her normally crimson hair tinged black. She was becoming like him. Her love of the light was starting to fade, in favour of her devotion to him, a user of darkness. It was ironic. They were serving the light, yet were corrupted by shadows.

Ruby was not far from embracing his dark ways, he knew that. She would become his partner in the darkness for as long as he was around. As long as his fate, the same as all around them, was prolonged unto old age, he would protect her as he knew she would protect him. Because he loved her.

And yet, even as these feelings filled him with warmth, a cold jab stabbed through him as he remembered Izzet. He was cheating on his true love. Though, he knew that was never the case.

Unfortunately for her, Izzet's relationship with him was nothing more than a manipulation of her good intentions. He enjoyed her love and affection, but it pained him that it paled in comparison to his bond with Ruby. And yet she needed that love. He knew that, like Ruby, Izzet needed to feel loved. So he would play the part. But she'd only see an illusion of the one she loved.

It was painful to be the bearer of that knowledge. Maybe ignorance was bliss after all.

As Jet continued with this melancholy, a loud roar could be heard above them. Jet looked up as Ruby jolted awake, clearly not having been in such a deep sleep as she'd seemed. Through the dark field, Jet saw a huge, black shape in the snowy sky.

Disabling the dark field immediately, Ruby letting out an 'eep' at the sudden cold, he took off in flight.

As Jet flew higher, it came into view. A vast Grimm, easily the size of a double decker bus, with scaly, black skin shimmering in the sunlight. Two leathery wings kept it aloft, and a gargantuan, spiked tail was stretched behind it. A long neck supported a large head with a maw of glistening teeth. Red eyes locked with his own, below a bulbous, orb-like growth upon its head.

This thing was a dragon!

"Woah, big guy." Jet said to himself as he stared it down. But, it was a Grimm, like any other.

He stretched his wings, igniting his flames and allowing his weapons to appear. Time to make this guy learn his place, one way or another.

"Grimm!" he called, using his commanding voice gifted to him by Deus's boon. "Leave this place! You have no business here!"

As he said it, a nearby pack of beowolves he'd seen earlier looked up at him, before howling to each other and running to the forest behind him. The vast drake did not follow suit. It was still staring at him, now with a look that suggested amusement.

"Leave here, or feel my wrath!" Jet roared, flaring his flames still brighter, allowing his full strength to spill into the world in the form of the fires surrounding him, which were now an iridescent blaze.

The dragon roared now, and the fleshy orb growing from its head started emitting a bright red light from within. As soon as it started, a wave of pain erupted through Jet's body, causing him to momentarily drop from the sky. As he fell, trying to re-establish control over a suddenly pain-wracked body, he dropped within shouting range of Ruby.

"Jet! What's wrong?" Ruby called as Jet stopped himself from falling, the flapping of his wings now sending agonizing jolts of pain through his body. He didn't reply, now feeling really ticked. How dare this Grimm try and bring HIM down?

He aimed his lance at the dragon still watching them, and charged his power. After a full five seconds, he unleashed a full-power blast, intending to wipe the thing out in one shot. As soon as he stopped firing, the pain in his wings became too great, and he fell, though he wasn't worried, as the fires around him would protect-

A heavy impact with the ground. And there was pain. A lot of it. Jet got up, feeling it in his back, which had taken the impact. Wait. His protection was gone?

He looked at the dragon, and his heart sank. The giant beam hadn't done any damage whatsoever. It was still just looking at them, with that cold look of amusement. Then, it dived towards them, where it landed in the snowy clearing. A plume of snow was thrown up by the impact, throwing Jet backwards.

He landed face-down in the snow, and tried to get up, but his strength abandoned him.

"Jet!" Ruby called from somewhere. He tried to get up again, but his powers seemed to fail him. He laid there, unable to move away from the chilling snow. What was that thing?

Someone lifted him up and slung him onto their back. A scent of roses told him it was definitely Ruby. Jet heard a roar before Ruby threw herself to the ground. Jet felt himself smash into the ground, before blackness overtook him.

* * *

Jet could hear voices above him. His head was sore, pounding in places. He could feel a hand on his left arm, gripping it tightly.

He flared his powers, and to his relief, he felt the dark flames that had been smothered catch and burn around him. The hand released him immediately.

"He's awake! Thank god." a voice said above him, and he guessed it was Weiss'. He cracked open his eyes and saw a stone roof, covered in a flickering light. Were they in a cave? And why was Weiss there?

He stood up as team RWBY, Lilac and Izzet approached him as one. Stretching his wings, he extinguished his flames, thankful to have his powers back. His headache vanished, as if banished by them.

"What happened?" he asked, remember that he'd fallen after trying to fight the dragon. "Where are we, and how did the rest of you find us?" His eyes found Ruby beside him. "Are you okay?"

"I'm okay." Ruby replied, as Yang gave him a punch in the shoulder in way of greeting. "They found me after I dropped you. We ran for it."

"If that thing could take you down, we wouldn't have stood a chance." Lilac replied. Jet felt a hand on his shoulder, and found Izzet checking him for injuries. Before he had a chance to let her know that he was fine, a realization struck him.

"Wait, where's Nouvelle?" Jet asked.

There was a horrible silence at his question. Each pair of eyes previously looking at him was now looking down at the stony floor. None of them answered his question, and Jet had his answer before they could give it. But it couldn't be.

"Did she die?" he asked. Only Weiss replied.

"Yes. She was killed."


	18. Chapter 18 - Loss

"Wait, how?" Jet asked. Ruby felt her heart sink as he asked. She knew that this would have been a tough subject to broach.

"Jet, come with me. Izzet, you too." Lilac instructed with an unusually commanding tone. Ruby was even more surprised as Jet and Izzet obeyed. It seemed that, in Jet's absence, Lilac was the next in command.

As they left the small cave and the warm light of the campfire, Ruby closed her eyes. She remembered what had happened.

* * *

As Ruby got up, she realised that Jet was now unconscious. She screamed out as the dragon raised a claw, smoking with vapours from the melted snow covering it. Ruby rolled to one side as the colossal talons raked the ground where she'd just been. Getting up, she looked behind her and dived to the side again as the massive maw of the beast snapped at the air where she'd just been.

She had to defend Jet while he was down! She would not let it end it here!

All tiredness gone, she turned and faced the gigantic Grimm still baring down on her, putting Jet's body behind her. She would make this thing PAY for what it had done!

"Transcend!" Ruby yelled with her entire being, and her own purple flames flared into life, crackling around her, covering her like an aura. She channelled it around Crescent Rose, which unfurled at once. Raising the glowing scythe, she spotted the drake spinning on the spot, its spiked tail swinging their way. She slashed, slicing the enormous appendage off, causing a flood of sludge-like blood to pour out of the stump in a torrent, painting the snow crimson.

The Grimm howled with rage and turned to face her. She saw that orb on its head, the crimson glow it emitted making her dizzy, wobbly, unsteady. She fell, hitting the icy ground next to Jet. Now there was no escape. Her fires vanished, her strength fading.

It roared again, and was about to snap at them again when a flaming bullet nailed it on the side of the head. Ruby turned her head to see Yang, Weiss, Blake, Lilac, Izzet, and Nouvelle charge from the treeline. Words failed her. How on Remnant had they found her and Jet that quickly?

Yang punched the massive neck of the beast as Lilac and Nouvelle swept them up in their arms and dragged them to the treeline. Ruby glanced over at Jet to see him still unconscious. What had that thing done?

She looked out just in time to see Weiss and Blake dodge a large swathe of neon green fire that erupted from the dragon's maw, and Yang flying backwards having just been hit by the sweeping stub of a tail. Izzet was on the thing's back, though as soon as Ruby noticed her, the dragon did as well, and shook itself. She flew off it, and landed hard in the snow.

Nouvelle crouched next to her as Lilac immediately went to help Izzet and Yang.

"Say sorry to zem for me." she said, with a grave expression on her face, clasping Ruby's left hand with her right, the one not holding Burning Meteor. "And tell Jet, when he wakes up, I should have seem eet sooner. 'E will understand."

"What do you mean? Nouvelle?" Ruby yelled over a deafening roar by their enemy. Nouvelle did not reply, but instead drew a knife and shrouded it in bright red flames, before thrusting it through her own wrist and holding it aloft for all to see, including the dragon, which now focussed on her.

Nouvelle ran deep into the forest, though Ruby could still see a trail of flames indicating her presence. The dragon took flight at once, and Ruby stood up and immediately picked up Jet. Yang was running her way, gesturing for her to run, and as Ruby did, following Lilac and Izzet who lead the way to shelter, she heard Nouvelle's scream, before a horrible snapping sound and a sharp end to her last voice.

* * *

Ruby remembered it. That terrible 'crunch' that could only mean one thing. Nouvelle had sacrificed herself to save them from the dragon-like Grimm.

Jet entered back through the cave entrance, flanked by Izzet and Lilac. Team RWBY all met their gaze. It wasn't long before Ruby realized Jet was steeling himself, and she knew why. As leader of LIJN, Jet had lost a team member. She wondered if he would say something.

"Nouvelle wasn't truly known by many." Jet said, slowly, calmly. Ruby found herself being enveloped in his voice. "Many of her achievements remain unsung, and unremembered save for the few who knew." At this, the remaining members of LIJN placed a hand on their hearts. Ruby found her hand inching up to her own, steadily beating heart, and stayed her hand.

"She was an invaluable asset to our team. She maintained the structural integrity of LIJN, and showed us a shining example of not just embracing the change of day to day life, but thriving in it." Lilac said, a sombre tone that seemed alien to her normally cheerful voice.

' _Even to those who barely knew her,_ ' Izzet sent, ' _she was kind and strong, and protected those weaker than herself in the end. Her fire still burns in our hearts_.'

"Nouvelle." Jet concluded, keeping very calm. Ruby could feel tears springing again. She barely knew her, but she hated this feeling of mourning. It always made her so sad. "You'll always be a member of LIJN. Fare thee well."

At this, all three of them closed their eyes and bowed their heads. Each held out a hand, and in each, a fire crackles, small but fierce. Izzet's was a red and blue conflagration, fires of violet were in Lilac's, and a black flame was in Jet's hand. A green flame hung in the center of the cave, and as Ruby watched, it slowly died, until it was gone.

Their task done, the three teammates sat down, extinguishing their flames. As Ruby ventured over to join Jet, she noticed tears in the eyes of all her teammates, even Weiss, who was normally much more staunch in her demeanour.

All in a similar sense of loss.

They had never had a teammate die before.

Jet looked upon her team, and as the silence stretched on, Ruby felt it time to ask, finally.

"So why did we have to run, Jet?" Ruby asked. "Were we caught?"

She could almost feel the stares of her teammates. Jet closed his eyes, and bowed his head.

"Yes, we were." Jet replied. "One stupid mistake of mine."

"Care to share?" Blake asked, joining them. Slowly, the others followed.

"I suffered another Reversion." Jet admitted. "I went out of the pub not knowing at the time. I only really realised when I was in that alleyway that Ruby found me in. Before you, two other people found me while I was suffering that pain. A man and an old woman." He slapped his own forehead. "The woman realised what I was from the flames, and I knocked them both out immediately. My guess is that one of them immediately called the police upon getting their consciousness back, though I'm not exactly sure how that they had proof that I was an Angel of Darkness."

"Probably from the security camera that filmed you in that alleyway." Yang commented. It took Ruby a second to process that, and clearly from Jet's reaction, he was the same.

"There was a security camera?" Jet asked, incredulously. Yang nodded.

"We were told by Ozpin." Weiss added. "He helped us out in getting us to you."

Ruby felt stunned. OZPIN had done that? Weiss glanced her way before continuing.

"He loaned us an aircraft, and we saw you guys, but that dragon thing you saw before shot us down." she explained. "We crashed not far from where you were, then you disappeared for a bit and then next thing we knew, you were flying up to meet that dragon."

"Well, that explains things." Jet replied, as he stood up. "We should get moving soon."


	19. Chapter 19 - Deep Breath

Jet swung his lance for the umpteenth time at the umpteenth beowolf that charged at him, feeling rather bored as he saw it die in the same way. These packs were really starting to irritate him.

They had been travelling across the snowy plains for several hours now. Aside from Weiss' occasional mutters of having luxuries back home, they were all silent, focussing on making their next step.

Jet stopped and thought as he speared his fifth wolf on his lance, then swung his weapon upwards, flinging the unfortunate Grimm up into the sky, ready for a lethal fall on the way back down.

He really needed to find more exciting ways to kill them, besides stabbing or blasting them to dust with his ranged attacks. Jet was shrouded in flames, walking calmly through the thick of it all. Occasionally, a beowolf would get in his way, only for it to be blasted or slashed away.

His team of six were fighting hard. Each had formed a pair, Weiss with Blake, Ruby with Yang and Lilac with Izzet. He was in the center, and would take out the bigger targets.

As the last of the pack were routed, Jet spotted a pair of Ursa Majors in the distance. He crouched, and began charging, aiming his lance at them. Izzet noticed his change and sent telepathic warnings that he was preparing to fire. Ruby and Yang closed with him to cover him from any immediate threats, while the other two pairs moved to cover his back.

Five seconds later, Jet fired his massive beam at the two Grimm. They were enveloped in purple light and energy, barely getting out a roar before they were covered in it.

Several moments later, Jet stopped firing. The Grimm that were targeted were nowhere to be seen. They'd been obliterated, leaving no corpse, no smoking embers.

"Transmuted into nothing." Jet growled, resting a little. It had been the fifth shot he'd fired like that, and the kick was something else.

"Let's keep moving." Yang encouraged, and Ruby nodded.

* * *

Around half an hour later, Lilac was the first to ask for a rest, and the vote was unanimous. It was growing dark, and Jet took flight before coming back to them with a good spot within a basin formed by hills. A frozen lake was nearby, and if necessary, they could get water from the lake and heat it.

As Jet set up their two-man tent, Ruby took a close look at Jet's features, having not done so the last time she was around him. His eyes were slightly bloodshot, a look she'd normally associate with him being tired. But she noticed that he was different in two ways, ways that discredited her theory of his current condition.

He met her gaze, and she saw it clearly. The normally emerald irises of her lover's eyes were tinged a little red, dulling their glimmer, and his gaze was sharp. Much sharper than any other time he'd looked at her.

"What is it?" Jet asked, sticking the pole of the tent he was holding into the snow. Even his tone was a little more… forceful.

"Just looking at my handsome boyfriend." Ruby said awkwardly as Jet lifted another pole.

 _'Pretty sure we're more than boyfriend and girlfriend at this stage.'_ Jet thought to her, and she felt herself blush. He thrusted the pole into the snow, and dusted off his hands. Their tent was fairly large compared to most. All of theirs were. They were also insulated against the cold.

Jet laid a mat out at the entrance to their tent and scraped the snow off his boots, before crawling inside. Ruby did the same, and saw Jet remove his boots before pointing at all four corners of the tent. A dark field appeared, but this one tinged the tent a warm orange, not unlike a bedroom lamp.

"This field makes it completely warm, and repels all cold and snow. People can come and go and see us while we're in here." Jet explained. He clapped his hands together, creating a dark flame in his hands, but as he held the flaming orb away from him, it highlighted something Ruby hadn't seen upon her first gaze upon her lover.

His irises had a red ring on the outside. A deep crimson, all the way around. It was small, but it was definitely there. It looked like it was just about to begin an invasion on the emerald brilliance of his normal eye colour, a red wave of evil.

Jet seemed to have noticed her staring at him, as he asked; "What's the matter?" before tossing the flame out the tent flap, where it instantly fizzled out and died in the absence of its controller.

"Are you okay?" Ruby asked him. Part of her knew that he was not okay by any stretch, but she wanted to see what he would say.

"I feel fine." Jet replied, after a pause. Ruby dug into her backpack, taking out an apple and some instant food. She took a bite, before offering the unbitten end to Jet. He took it and took a bigger bite, before passing it back to her, flashing her a playful smile. Ruby knew the game he was playing.

She took the biggest bite she could out of the flesh in-between their initial bites, before tossing it to Jet. He caught it and reciprocated, digging deep, before raising his eyebrows as if to say 'game over', before tossing the core to Ruby. She realised with a jolt that Jet was right. While Ruby loved apples, she hated the cores.

Resigning herself to eating it, she moved to take a bite when Jet held his palm out for the apple. Curious, Ruby gave it back, and Jet conjured the fire again, evaporating the core, seeds and everything, instantly. A pleasant smell of fruit and warm sugar blasted outwards before he clapped again, smothering the flame.

Grinning, Ruby turned to the two cups of pot noodles that she'd brought out. All she needed to do was warm them up with a fire. She showed them to Jet, who nodded in understanding. Ruby had to admit to herself, she enjoyed this in-tune feeling.

He took one of the pots and held it in both hands, before conjuring the same violet flame. The pot began bubbling within seconds, and after about ten seconds, he ripped open the film on the top before putting the steaming pot before Ruby. She looked at him as he started to heat the other, and he tilted his head, as if to say 'ladies first'.

Ruby reached into her backpack and dug out two sets of plastic cutlery, before tossing one to Jet, forgetting that he had the other pot in his flaming hands. Jet moved the fire out of the way, and the cutlery landed in his lap. He put the pot down after heating it, before taking the cutlery, though he waited for it to cool.

They ate in silence, hearing the bustle of the other two tents. Ruby ate slowly, not just because the noodles were hot, but because she wanted to display her manners and impress Jet. Judging by how he was mimicking her behaviour, albeit a little slower, he was trying to do the same.

It was, Ruby realised, one of their first meals together. Wow.

Something attracted Jet's attention, and he looked towards the wall of their tent, putting aside his pot. He said nothing and maintained this for a full minute, before he turned back to Ruby.

"Telepathy with Izzet." he explained. He took a couple more forkfuls of his noodles, during which Ruby finished her food, before he pushed his half-finished bowl towards Ruby. "Not hungry."

"You sure? It's tough out there." Ruby questioned.

"I'm an Angel of Darkness. And besides," Jet reassured, pushing it right in front of her, "the fuller you feel, the fuller I feel."

Not needing any more encouragement, Ruby tucked in to Jet's remaining noodles. By the time she was finished, she was full and content. She checked Jet, and sure enough, he looked more relaxed and happy as well. Ruby laid down on her side, expecting Jet to do the same, but he instead made to move outside the tent, before beckoning for her to do the same. She did, and upon moving outside, found soggy grass under her boots instead of snow.

"Everyone!" Jet called. "I need your attention!"

Slowly, her teammates and Jet's crawled out of the other two tents. Once they were all assembled, Jet beckoned to the walls of their 'basin', which now flickered with orange energy.

"This is a Warm field." Jet explained. "It will cover us from cold and snow. I've also projected a barrier along the top of this, in case a storm comes tonight. But bear in mind that these can fail, so there will be individual warm fields and barriers for each tent. The snow shouldn't get us, but if it does get into your tent and the warm field fails, yell. I'm very easy to wake up and I can get rid of any snow. Lilac and Yang, you can do the same?"

At his question, both nodded.

"Well then, I guess goodnight, and see you all tomorrow." Jet concluded, before turning back to their tent. Ruby followed, eager to spend a little alone time with Jet, particularly as she wasn't so sleepy this time.


	20. Chapter 20 - Dusk and Dawn

Jet settled down into the sleeping bag, and gazed up at the canopy above him. It had been a tough day. He heard the zipping and swishing of clothing, and knew Ruby was changing, somewhere out of his sight.

He rested his aching muscles, and rubbed his eyes wearily. Sleep would take him quickly tonight, even though his girlfriend would be in the exact same sleeping bag as he was. His precious girl, the one who loved him.

Who he loved.

"Done!" Ruby called. Jet closed his eyes, and waited for her. He felt her lift up the top of the sleeping bag and clamber inside, before he sensed a dip in the pillow beside him. Smooth arms wrapped around his chest, covered only by a black T-shirt. His machine heart started beating a little faster, the pulse he could feel reverberating around his body. Warm, silken legs intertwined with his own, the skin on skin contact caused blood to rush to his head.

"So what's new?" Jet asked, blindly. He heard Ruby giggle.

"Turn towards me and open your eyes." Ruby instructed. Jet rolled in her arms until he was facing her, then cracked his eyelids open.

Ruby's adorable little face greeted his eyes, a warm smile on her face, shimmering silver eyes meeting his, her little locks of crimson-tipped hair tucked behind her. She was wearing a small, red nightie, and Jet caught himself wondering if she had any panties on. As he marshalled his thoughts, Ruby released him and crossed her arms around her chest, clearly waiting for him to speak.

"You're beautiful." Jet whispered, keeping to the quiet atmosphere of their campsite. "I almost feel inadequate compared to you. Like I don't deserve you." Ruby giggled some more.

"This coming from a living god?" she whispered back, before pecking him on the cheek. "I love you, and nothing's going to take me away from you. Nothing."

Ruby hugged him once more, and brought him into her embrace. Jet closed his eyes as they snuggled together, feeling her gentle caress. It was heavenly, and Jet bathed in the therapeutic sensations that were his lover's touch. The aches and pains from the trials of the day just seemed to flow away.

Leaving only the pain in his own heart.

"Ruby, can you look into my eyes?" Jet asked, opening his eyes, and watched as Ruby's eyes met his own. Their heads were close enough that he could feel her breath on his cheek. Her eyes met his again.

"They're all bloodshot." Ruby replied. "Is that normal?" She looked worried.

"No, it isn't." Jet asserted. "It's the result of this power. I'm definitely more corrupted than I was when we first did the ritual."

"Tell me the truth." Ruby whispered, and Jet kept his eyes locked on hers as they turned serious. "Even if you don't tell the others, how are you really feeling? C'mon, you can trust me."

Jet considered her. Could he drop the disguise after so long? He didn't want to worry her.

And yet, as Jet looked into Ruby's eyes, he saw a seriousness he'd never seen before. It was as if an adult was searching his eyes, rather than his seventeen year old girlfriend. He could tell her.

"Not great." Jet admitted, quietly. "Even while we're lying here, my body feels like a lead weight when I'm not using my powers. My mind feels a little fuzzy, and I can feel the flow of my own blood, but it's like a foul sludge is pumping through my veins. I feel almost dead, and the faint light of my own heart feels like its fading."

"I can feel it too." Ruby replied. She slipped her hand in-between them and put it on his chest, next to his machine of a heart. "It's like the person I'm looking at is disappearing into the night. The one I love is leaving me." As she said it, Jet hugged her back.

"Remember what I said to you, back when you witnessed my first Reversion?" Jet asked. "I'm not going to curl up and die yet. I've got a job to do, and I'm not going to die doing it. You know what?"

Jet leant on his arm and propped himself up. Ruby watched him carefully, as Jet affixed her with his most serious stare.

"As soon as I've killed Flux, and you are safe, I don't care about what happens to me. I don't care if I lose all sense of myself, or if I die. As long as you're safe." Jet asserted. "Nothing else matters to me."

"And I'm not living on my own." Ruby replied sternly, also rising up. "I'm with you, Jet, in life or death. If you want me to be safe, you have to be safe too. Deal?"

Jet hissed at this. Since when had Ruby become so forward?

"Deal." he growled. Ruby immediately thrusted out and grabbed him, pulling him down into a cuddle. Jet embraced her in return as she squeezed him tight. Her legs wrapped around his own, curling slowly as if to keep him there. Jet kissed her back, feeling at peace.

Yes.

He would stay with her. As long as he could.

"I love you." Jet whispered, breaking the kiss momentarily.

"I love you too." Ruby replied, before they kissed again. Jet felt his leg ride up her nightie and grind against her core. His mind started to grow heavy as he broke the kiss and snuggled with her. Only one thought ran through Jet's mind as he started to drift off.

She hadn't been wearing panties after all.

* * *

Blinding purple light.

A scream.

Jet opened his eyes to see a crowd of people, all on fire, running away from him. He was at Beacon, and the whole dormitory was on fire.

He gave chase, running as hard as he could, and purple flames began to grow around him. One of the burning people tripped and fell, but the rest kept running. Jet caught up to this person, and turned his head, only to find a black, shapeless mass in front of him.

"dOn'T kIlL mE sAvE mE hElP hElP!" it cried out in a distorted voice, before its head exploded in a shower of bone, blood and brain right in his face. Jet wiped his eyes to see the body fall against the wall, blood gushing from the neck, forming a message written in the gore.

'You did this'

Confused and scared, Jet backed away, before he realised there was something wet on his hands. He looked at them to see them literally painted in blood, before part of it receded to show another message from the nightmare.

'They will all die' was on his left hand, and 'Because of you' was on his right.

Jet screamed out in terror, and promptly slipped in a puddle of gore. He looked up just in time to see a piece of the burning roof falling straight down on top of him.

* * *

Jet awoke with a start and a shriek. He found himself in Ruby's arms, the girl herself completely wide awake. He was being shaken, and hugged her back gratefully. That ordeal had definitely been a nightmare.

"Are you okay?" Ruby whispered as he shuddered, his head buried in her chest under her arms. Jet said nothing. He was curled up in a ball, covered in a cold sweat. He felt, for the first time in ages, terrified.

"Bad… dream." Jet whispered back.

"You were crying in your sleep." Ruby said, stroking his hair in a motherly sort of way. "I woke up, and just held you until you stopped."

"Sorry." Jet muttered. He looked up to find no sunlight filtering in through the tent fabric. It was still night time.

"Can you sleep?" Ruby asked. Jet thought about it, then realised that even if he DID sleep, that dream may well come back. He shook his head, and Ruby nuzzled his cheek. "Do you think if you were tired out, would that help?" Now Jet considered her. What did she have in mind? He nodded, and Ruby gave him a warm smile. "Can you put up the dark field?" she requested.

Ah. She was thinking about that. Well, seeing as they were both awake anyway…

Jet raised his arm, and felt the familiar surge of dark power. He directed it in a sphere around them, and as he finished tracing a circle, pointing upwards, a purple bubble was created within the orange of the warm field. As Jet finished, he felt his member harden instantly at the sight of the field, and rightly so, for twice had he taken his girlfriend under the cover of this ability.

"Take off your clothes." Ruby instructed. "We're going to make this a bit more comfortable." Woah. Since when had Ruby become that dominant in their relationship? There again, Jet reasoned, it could be fun to be the masochist for a change. He'd allow it, for now. He slipped out of his t-shirt and trousers, leaving himself completely bare, and watched as Ruby removed the nightie, now in a similar state to himself.

She beckoned him to get closer to her, and he obeyed, curiosity at her intent getting the better of him. Ruby intertwined their legs, and he felt his member press against her body as she cuddled with him, her smooth, _scrumptious_ skin making contact with his own.

Wait, where had that thought come from?

Jet barely had time to think about it though, as Ruby kissed him softly, tenderly, their tongues curling around each other, not in a fight for dominance, but an acceptance of one another. Now Jet started to put the pieces together as he wrapped his arms around her back, pressing her muscles and moving her further into his own embrace. She was moving, grinding his member against her body, while at the same time pressing her entrance against his leg.

Even though Ruby wanted to seem dominant, in reality, they were equals. Jet got it now. With that in mind, he broke the kiss and affixed her with a sensual look.

"So, Ruby." Jet whispered, deciding to leave the ball in her court. "I think I know a way where we can both release a bit of tension, if you'll let me." There was a little pre on Ruby's side where she had been rubbing him, and he knew his leg wasn't covered in sweat.

"Well, your ideas have been good so far." Ruby replied. "What do you want me to do?"

Jet knew it. She wanted them to be equal here, and he knew exactly how to do that.

"Let's get a little further under the covers." Jet commanded quietly, and both bent their knees before sinking further within the long sleeping bag. Now completely under, Jet kissed Ruby again, to which she eagerly returned. "Get on top of me and turn so you're facing my feet." Jet instructed.

Ruby immediately did so, positioning herself on top of him and resting her legs on his shoulders. Her breasts were pressed into his lower chest, though he couldn't see what Ruby was doing from his position. He felt her give him a lick, and pulled on her legs to bring her core closer to him.

"Is this a sixty-nine?" Ruby asked. Jet massaged her backside as he responded.

"Yes it is." he replied. "Do you know what your job is?"

"Not the sixty-nine's, but I know what mine is when I'm around this thing." Ruby whispered, before Jet felt a wet warmth that could only mean Ruby had taken his member into her mouth. Jet reciprocated, plunging his tongue through her folds and causing her to moan, the vibrations being sent through him enough to make him shudder.

Angling downwards, he aimed to hit her pressure point. He found it almost instantly, the little rough spot now firmly fixed in Jet's memory. He felt Ruby double her efforts as he teased her g-spot, as if she was close already and wanted to make him cum at the same time.

She was doing a good job of it too. Jet could feel her bobbing up and down, wrapping her tongue around him and teasing the tip. She sometimes forced it deep into her throat and held it there, before moving it back with a gurgle, and sometimes only had the head while she stroked it with a dripping hand.

Jet meanwhile was stroking the inside of her legs, determined to make her feel the same pleasure he was feeling. He teased her spot, licking around it and glossing over it, before pulling out and licking her clit while inserting two fingers and continuing with her g-spot, only to switch the roles between his fingers and his tongue. The velvety feel of her inner thighs was a bliss he couldn't put into words.

Suddenly, he felt Ruby squeeze her legs together, clamping him with his mouth pressed against her dripping sex, and she began to suck more forcefully, pushing Jet over the edge. Not realising how close he actually was, Jet felt his lover wrap her mouth around his member as he started to cum, shooting his seed once, twice, three times into her mouth.

At the same time, Ruby came, squirting harder and much more than Jet had seen her cum before. He kept drinking as she kept squirting, not allowing the onrush of his girl's pleasure fluids to overwhelm him, and after a full three seconds, the rush of liquids finally died down, and Jet felt it safe to let go of her.

He could hear her panting as she righted herself and rolled off of him. She laid her head on the pillow as he came back up. They kissed, letting each other taste their own juices. After a moment, they broke apart and snuggled together, still completely naked.

Jet barely heard Ruby whisper something before he felt his eyes drooping shut, and he fell asleep.


	21. Chapter 21 - Reconciliation

Jet felt himself slowly coming back to consciousness. He immediately saw Ruby's face as she slept next to him. She looked just as beautiful as she had done last night.

Sunlight shone through the tent flap as he climbed out of the sleeping bag.

"RUBY! JET!" Yang yelled, and to Jet, she sounded quite far away.

"WHERE ARE YOU!?" Jet heard Lilac yell. Sighing, he pulled his t-shirt and trousers on before igniting his powers. He stepped out of the dark field, intending to lay into them for possibly waking Ruby up, when he realised that they didn't know where they were. His eyes fell on the purple field he'd created, and it clicked.

They'd been in the dark field, and one of them must have looked inside their tent.

Realising he'd have to figure out a way out of this one, Jet hiked up to where he could hear Yang and Lilac.

* * *

They were at the top of the basin, and were scanning the snowy plains for them. Jet tapped them both from behind. Yang wheeled around, Lilac jumping with fright.

"Where were you?" they asked.

"New power." Jet replied. He summoned a dark field and morphed it so that it covered him like a full body suit, and he knew that, to Yang and Lilac, he had vanished on the spot. "It activated during the night."

"Wow, that's cool!" Lilac said eagerly, but Yang's face was still stern.

"Where's Ruby?" she asked.

"Back in the tent. She was getting changed when I left, give her a bit of time." Jet replied, letting the dark field vanish so that they could see him again.

"Just bring her to me once she's done." Yang requested, with a sigh. "And no funny business!" she added as he began to move back down to their camp. A growl escaped Jet. What was her problem? He turned around to see her watching their tent, and flew back to her, still enshrouded in purple flames.

"What's your problem?" he asked.

"Now's not the time to test me, Jet. Just get Ruby." Yang replied, her face beginning to redden. Jet chuckled, audible enough for Yang to hear.

"Yes, because you can threaten a living god, _sis_." Jet retorted sarcastically, putting emphasis on the last word. "In fact, why don't you have a go if you've got to vent?"

He hadn't meant to say that last part.

Yang's hair were embers at the tips as she glowered at him. Something had to be bothering her, though what, he had no idea. And where was Lilac? Her hands curled into fists, and Jet felt a rush of savage pleasure in the fight to come, especially when he saw Ember Cecilia deploy around her fists.

He raised his hand, constructing another dark field, in the shape of an arena around them both. The size was similar to a basketball court. Truth be told, Jet knew he needed to get things out of his system as well.

"You brought this on yourself, Jet." Yang growled, before screaming with an inarticulate rage, and her semblance activated, erupting in uncontrolled flames all around her.

Jet, who was already shrouded in his own from head to toe, summoned Doomsayer and Darkening, and crouched, shield up and lance aimed at his target, before nodding his head slightly, indicating he was ready for her.

Yang wasted no time at all, and charged him, running as fast as she could to close the gap between them. Jet fired off a weak burst of lasers from Doomsayer before she reached him, and when she did, he raised Darkening and unleashed a wave of force from the shield that knocked Yang off balance. Transitioning from stable crouch to combat position swiftly, Jet swung his lance in a quick, wide arc, nailing Yang in the side and knocking her flat on her back before she could recover.

He took flight as she got up, and flew to the other side of their makeshift arena, before landing and focussing his aura into five places around him. Charcoal bolts of electricity flowed around these five points, and he waited until Yang was running at him again before sending them at her. She ducked the first and jumped over the second, but was forced to dive out of the way of the third and fourth, the fifth connecting.

Yang yelled out in pain and collapsed, the dark volts spiralling around her, draining her aura and her semblance with it. The effect was gradually increasing, the power flowing through her too much to bear.

"Goodnight." Jet said. "The gods are not to be challenged by mortals. You should have known that."

He turned his back. Several moments passed, then he heard the sound of Yang grunting. He turned around to see her struggling to her feet, the bolts gone. Jet was surprised. How did someone resist his powers?

"I'M DONE BEING POWERLESS!" Yang roared, and her flames burned brighter than ever. Before Jet could react, she shoulder tackled him to the ground, before lifting the angel by the legs and spinning round and round.

Jet felt himself get dizzier and dizzier as she span, before Yang swung him up and over, straight into the snow, face-first. He tasted blood as his teeth bit deep into his own tongue, though his godly aura had protected him from the majority of the damage to his body.

The respite didn't last long. Yang lifted Jet up into the air once again, and threw him several meters away, and Jet felt himself hitting the ground again, rolling over several times before coming to a complete halt. Head pounding from the swinging, Jet slowly got back up on his haunches, and looked up at Yang.

Inside, rage burned like a bonfire.

How dare a mortal like her think to take him down?

How dare she even think for a second that her anger was more powerful than his own?

Did she think she was the only one with problems?

This and a thousand more other questions roiled around in Jet's head, until he stood up, and faced his opponent again. His fires were burning red hot, and they were now completely red. This was definitely a reversion, but he didn't care.

Instead of resisting the pain, he let it in. He felt the surge of strength in his muscles and his body warm with his rage. The aura around him crackled and spat as he dropped his weapons, curling his fists. Never before had he channelled his temper like this, and he felt all the more furious.

But there was a first time for everything.

"HOW DARE YOU?!" Jet boomed back, the noise shaking the powder snow around them, his powers raising his voice to epic proportions. "I WILL CRUSH YOU!"

He was on Yang in mere seconds, upper-cutting her straight in the gut with the force of a thunderbolt. Jet heard the tell-tale shattering of her aura as he sent her flying backwards, Yang hitting the edge of the dark field as he willed it to solidify. She hit the ground, and Jet raised his arms, before channelling all the power he could into a sphere of force which grew in-between his hands.

Once it was the size of a large boulder, Jet hurled it at his half-sister, watching it streak towards her.

There was no way she could dodge it.

A loud BOOM sounded out upon the impact, before an explosion of force so large it buffeted Jet with bits of earth and snow.

Once the last of the red flames had cleared, a crater had been blown out of the ground. Jet kept his flames up, though he felt himself calming down. His flames were returning to their violet hue with a reddish tinge, though said tinge seemed to have grown, to the point where some of the flames were red, and others were purple.

He crossed the edge of the crater, and found a soot-covered Yang, splayed out in the center, flat on her back. Jet summoned two flames threateningly, as if daring her to try anything, but as he did so, she opened her eyes.

"Jet, stop." she said, panting. "I'm calm."

Jet debated. How would it be if he showed her who was dominant once and for all, to really drill into her brain who was master here?

 _'Stop, you fool.'_ Jet thought to himself. She had surrendered, and it would do more harm than good to keep fighting. With that in mind, he waved away the fireballs and stepped down the crater, which was the size of a swimming pool.

Upon reaching the bottom and the dazed Yang, he reached out a hand. She took it, and Jet pulled her up, still maintaining his strength. Once she was up, Yang regarded him with a curious expression, a cross between regret and fear. She was completely covered in soot, the whites of her eyes visible amongst completely blackened skin.

"Tell me why you were so angry inside, sister." Jet requested. Yang paused, and her eyes darted from Jet to somewhere to his left. It was as if she was trying to make up her mind.

"Have you ever known how it feels to be completely powerless?" Yang asked, keeping her eyes on Jet. "To be completely useless when someone you love is being hurt? Do you, bro?" Jet took his time before answering.

"No. All this time, I've been strong. Whenever someone was with me, and they were in danger, I've always had the strength to protect them." Jet replied honestly. "Since becoming a living god, I've never had a situation where Ruby was in danger in front of me, without my being able to do something."

"I have." Yang said. "I've been going through it a lot recently, with my family. You and Ruby."

"Oh?" Jet questioned. Yang closed her eyes, as if re-feeling an emotional tidal wave.

"Ruby's upsets over you, your Reversions or whatever, the times when one of you breaks the other." Yang continued. "Each time, I feel useless, because I can't do anything. All this time, all I can do is watch. If anyone hurts Ruby, I hurt them back. If anyone messes with you, I know you'll handle them yourself, or call for me, right?"

"Right." Jet confirmed.

"But with this relationship thing, I can't protect you two. With this Angel of Darkness thing, I can't protect you two. It happens again and again, and I get frustrated. It just pisses me the fuck off." Yang asserted.

"Listen, Yang." Jet said, insistently. "What I said before wasn't entirely true. I've been helpless once before, where I couldn't do anything."

"When?" Yang immediately asked.

"Back when Ruby and I were visiting Summer's grave." Jet replied. "In the aftermath, Flux attacked us. Took me down, Ruby wasn't far behind me. We were both going to die." He noticed Yang's fists clench. "Raven threw herself in the way of Flux's attack and shielded us from her. She repelled her, but by then she was mortally wounded. She died, and I had nothing to save her with. No power or any kind of semblance that could help. I was distraught."

"Wait, our mom is dead?" Yang asked, disbelievingly. Jet felt tears in his eyes, and he bowed his head.

"Yes." Jet replied. "She was warned by Izzet, we both were, but she went with it anyway to protect us."

"I don't understand." Yang said. "How did Izzet know?"

"She's a farseer." Jet answered tearfully. "We swore to each other not to admit it until it was important. You should know, your mum was… a really kind person."

"But don't you see that I'm hurting when you're hurting?" Yang asked. "You're a Xiao-Rose, and I'm going to keep you safe with Ruby. Promise me to at least let me keep you safe."

Jet couldn't speak anymore. It was too hard. His mind was fuzzy, his emotions in turmoil. He didn't even care about the soot when Yang wrapped her arms around him, and pulled him into a hug.


	22. Chapter 22 - Steam

Jet knelt in his and Ruby's tent, surrounded by his aura-flames. The others were packing up their tents, Ruby was probably doing the same.

He held out his hand in front of him, and blood-red flames engulfed it, drowning out the purple fires.

"I shouldn't have let that Reversion take a hold." Jet muttered to himself. The fuzziness of his thoughts was definitely feeling worse than before. The reddening of his flames wasn't a good sign either, as they were growing closer to the colour of Flux's flames.

He summoned his weapons. Doomsayer and Darkening appeared, and he looked at the lance. The spiral patters coiling around it seemed to be tighter around it. Four horn-like blades were now at the tip, pointed forwards. A small, shimmering ruby was now the original tip of the spear, sharpened and shining menacingly. Even the metal looked darker than before, a crimson glow surrounding them, as if tainted.

He was changing, and his weapons with him. Slowly, irrevocably, into a thing more corrupt and deadly than any Grimm. If he didn't find Flux and end her quickly, Jet knew that his mind would be engulfed in darkness. Flux's prediction would come true.

"No. It will not." Jet said to himself. "I WILL find her, and I WILL kill her, as I should have done."

Resolutely, he stepped outside the tent, his backpack and winter gear all on. His arms and legs even felt a little heavier than before. No, stop it. He would not complain here.

"Jet!" Ruby called from behind him. He turned around to see the tent, gone. Wait.

"Did you just pack it up like that?" Jet asked, fixing his eyes on his girlfriend, an incredulous grin on his face.

"I had a bit of help." Ruby replied, and Izzet stepped out from behind him, winking at him.

"Thank you both." Jet said. "Come on, let us proceed."

* * *

After hauling herself up the slope, Ruby joined the others, and after getting their bearings, continued their journey towards the Festung der Shatten.

The going was tough. Ruby felt her legs ache from yesterday's ordeals even as today's strain began to take its toll. It was bitterly cold as well, and Ruby found herself wishing she could use her limited powers of the Angels of Darkness. But she knew that if the Grimm were to attack, they would need all her strength.

Fields of powdery snow came and went. Still they trudged on resolutely, Jet leading them. As he did so, Ruby found herself looking more at Jet.

She was worried for him. He'd said that he wasn't going to fall soon, but even so…

"Stop!" Jet called. Ruby, who was barely paying attention, bumped into Yang, who was in front of her. She walked around her sister, to be greeted with the sight of another forest in the distance, and a frozen lake right in front of them, easily the size of an Olympic swimming pool. The sheet of frigid ice covering it reflected the clear blue sky.

"We've been walking for an hour, Jet." she heard Lilac pant. "Many of us are still tired from before."

"Hm." she heard Jet sound in response. She turned to see her lover with his hand on his chin, clearly thinking, his eyes dashing from the lake to the sky to the hills and back. Something was on his mind.

She pushed past Weiss and Lilac to get to him. His eyes were on Izzet, and as she drew his attention, Izzet nodded, crouched and put her hands on the ice. The surface darkened.

"Anybody up for a hot tub?" Jet asked, turning to the rest of the group. Now Ruby was confused. Where would they get a hot tub from?

"Um, Jet?" Ruby said, hearing her sister snigger behind her. "It's snow and ice, right? Where would-"

Jet put a cold finger on her mouth, effectively silencing her. Ruby felt indignant as he removed it. What was she, a three year old?

"Watch and learn what unlimited power can do if you put your mind to it." Jet replied with a grin. He also crouched and put his hands on the ice. His arms glowed red, and sunk through the ice. Ruby realised with a jolt that he was melting it!

Steam was rushing upwards from the cracks Jet was creating. They arced across the surface of the ice, releasing yet more steam. Still Jet remained there, as bubbling started to sound from where his hands were.

The ice was now mostly melted from the heat Jet was applying. Ruby glanced over at Yang, wondering what she, as the fire user of their group, was thinking. Sure enough, jealousy was plain to see in her eyes.

"All done." Jet said. He then waved a hand in a circle above him, and a Warm field was created around the lake, instantly melting the snow around the steaming lake and replacing it with flattened grass, clearly given relief from the harsh snow. He then removed his shirt.

"What are you doing?" Ruby asked apprehensively. Jet didn't reply until he was completely nude, and then, ignoring some of his companions' shrieks at the sight of his body, leaped into the pool, diving under and vanishing from sight, breaking the surface after a solid ten seconds.

"Well, this is lovely." Jet sighed, clearly not embarrassed in the slightest that all of them had seen his bum. "I can barely see you guys through the steam though."

It was true. He was nearly out of sight for the steam. It didn't take long for Ruby to make up her mind, and she too started to strip.

"R-Ruby." Weiss approached her, blushing fiercely. "You're not seriously thinking of joining him?"

"Well, I'm not so sure about you guys." Ruby said, getting down to her undies. "But that's a hot-tub, plus my boyfriend. I'm taking it." She then took a step back until she hit the edge of the makeshift pool. Deliberately, she took another step backwards, and let herself fall into the pool.

The effect was instantaneous. Ruby felt warmth, lovely warmth, flowing through every part of her body. Through her hair, enveloping her body, she felt it everywhere. She powered through the water, seeking Jet's legs, finding them soon after.

She broke the surface of the water, yet the chill air didn't sting her cheek. Shaking her hair free of the water, she found Jet grinning at her.

"Nice idea, huh?" Jet asked, pushing away slightly and allowing his flames, which must have ignited while Ruby was under, to vanish.

"Yeah, it is." Ruby replied. They swam away from their teammates, allowing themselves to become hidden in the steam. Jet went under, and Ruby followed, interlocking their hands as they powered their way through the water, emerging at the opposite edge, both short of breath.

Jet leant against the side with a chuckle, extending his wings. They were sodden and soaked in the water, and he flapped them experimentally as he floated there. Seeing Ruby watching him, he sunk under the surface, and then he was gone.

At least, only for a moment.

Her lover came rushing up from the bottom, right behind her! Not allowing Ruby any chance to react, Jet slipped his arms easily under Ruby's submerged arms and started to tickle her. Ruby jolted as she started to laugh uncontrollably, struggling to get out of his grip.

"Jet, GAHAH stop it! HAHA stop!" Ruby gasped in-between bouts of laughter. Jet heeded her not, instead nipping her ear with his teeth, making it quite clear to Ruby that, while playful, this was a challenge from him. Well, she would deliver.

Using every bit of strength she could, Ruby twisted out of Jet's hold and swam away, gasping as she recovered, watching Jet, who raised his eyebrows at her, as if impressed, before he sunk under the surface again, a menacing look in his eyes.

Ruby watched as he vanished under the water, grinning, keeping as much of the surface around her in view, waiting to bop Jet one on the head when he emerged. At the same time, she kept her mind focussed behind her, just in case he popped up behind her. Her playful boyfriend would have it coming to him.

Sure enough, Jet swiftly emerged behind her again. Ruby spun around quickly and splashed him straight in the face. Jet recoiled, and Ruby gave him a wink as she got some distance between her and him. He grinned as well, before diving under this time. Ruby got ready to get him again.

A splash from behind her, and Ruby wheeled around, only to see… IZZET?! The telepath gave a small wave, she too just as bare as her leader, before pointing behind her. Ruby felt herself being grabbed by Jet again, and struggled once again to get out of his grip, though he managed to tickle her again, sending her body into spasm as she freed herself.

Swimming back from her two opponents, Jet once again sunk, preparing to attack, whereas Izzet splashed water in her direction. Ruby guarded her eyes, knowing that Izzet was trying to distract her. She splashed back, hard, before watching for where Jet was while Izzet wiped her eyes.

She felt Jet moving around behind her, and reached down, intending to pull him up and out of the water. Her hand grasped something feminine, and as she lifted, she found Lilac instead, clad in a purple and pink striped bikini!

"Gotcha." she said with a grin, and wrapped her arms around Ruby, holding her in place. Ruby tried to break out, but her grip was much stronger than Jet's. As they fought. Jet emerged in front of her, with a laugh.

"Our name is Legion, and we will bring you down, Ruby Rose!" Jet announced. This clearly meant war.

Ruby kicked out against Lilac, breaking her hold, and activated her semblance, swimming as fast as she could back towards her own team and away from those three fiends.

* * *

She found her team relaxing where she'd left them, Weiss with some kind of swimsuit, Blake in a similar style of bikini to Lilac and Yang taking her approach.

"Help me Yang!" Ruby called, swimming over to her sister and wrapping herself around her sister.

"What's wrong?" Blake asked as all three of them looked at her with concern.

"Team LIJN's attacking us!" Ruby exclaimed. "They've been splashing me and tickling me! At first it was just Jet, but now they're all ganging up on me!"

"Oh are they?" Yang asked with a grin, looking with Ruby out to the steam, where three figures were swimming towards them. "Looks like they need a good dunking. We can't let them do that to our little Ruby, right?"

"Yeah." Blake replied with a grin.

"I'll sit out." Weiss replied. "It won't be fair otherwise!" she retorted shrilly at Yang's look.

"Have it your way." Yang replied. "Okay then." she said, taking charge, as she Ruby and Blake assembled ready for them. "Ruby, do you know how they attack?"

"Jet goes under the water and comes up behind you." Ruby replied. "Izzet distracts you. Lilac… I'm not too sure, but she can go under as well."

"Let's get them then." Blake said, with a growl. As she said it, Jet and his team emerged from the steam. Jet and Lilac were grinning playfully, Izzet instead having a small smile on her face, that almost looked sinister.

"Izzet. Lilac." Ruby heard him call to his teammates. "Let's give them something only LIJN can give. Complete Annihilation."

"YEAH!" Lilac yelled out, and both she and Izzet raised their fists.

 _'Prepare yourselves.'_ Izzet's telepathy reached her.

The three spread out, before Jet immediately sunk under the surface of the water. Lilac did as well, but Izzet instead raised a closed fist in the air, which was glowing blue, before she slammed it into the water and then pointed at their direction.

Ruby felt the water around them swirl, before water splashed up all around them. Ruby was blinded by the attack and fell back, wiping her eyes. Blake immediately started rushing over to where Izzet was, but she tripped and went under when Lilac pulled her legs from underneath. Yang immediately went to rescue Blake while Ruby kept an eye out for Jet.

"Surprise!" Jet called as he shot out of the water behind her, grabbed her and began to tickle her for the third time.

"Yang… HAHAHA… help me!" Ruby gasped as she convulsed in Jet's grip.


	23. Chapter 23 - Signs of the End

Jet held his girlfriend in a strong grip as she struggled against his merciless tickling. This was too freaking fun!

' _Jet, watch out!_ ' Izzet warned. ' _Yang incoming!_ '

Jet immediately let go of Ruby and dived under, but not quick enough to avoid Yang, who lifted him out of the water and up into air!

"Gotcha, you little pest!" Yang yelled, before hurling him back. He hit the middle of the pool with a splash and went under again. As he emerged, he saw Lilac receive the same treatment, and Blake continued moving towards Izzet.

He had to take Yang out. She was clearly the strongest while he wasn't using his godly abilities. There again…

He raised his arm and willed a sphere of water to form. Water surged up his arm from the lake to the growing sphere until it was the size of a basket ball. He then willed it to grow cold for a bit, then waited until Yang, who was now chasing Lilac again, was within range.

As soon as he could, he fired it, nailing Yang straight in the chest.

"Ahh!" she shrieked as the chilling water covered her upper body. Jet immediately capitalised on her distraction and dived again, heading straight for her. He swam past the feet of Izzet and Blake in the middle of some kind of duel, homing in on his target; Yang's legs. A brush next to him told him Lilac was next to him, also wanting some vengeance.

They reached Yang's legs, and Jet felt his lungs' call for oxygen, but he heeded them not for the time being.

 _'On three.'_ he sent to Lilac, who nodded. They moved to grab Yang, who for some reason was staying still. _'One, two, THREE!'_

They each grabbed a muscly yet smooth leg and put their own on the bottom, before kicking and surging upward, flipping Yang upside down in the process. Job done, both surged away, Lilac going to help Izzet. Jet searched for Ruby, yet looking around, she wasn't anywhere. Where was-

A big splash from behind him followed by two feminine arms wrapping themselves around him. Fingers went straight for his armpits, and Jet, while not as ticklish as his girlfriend, struggled to keep his composure. He blasted her off him with the Red Pulse and spun around, a devilish grin on his face.

"No fair." Ruby whined as she moved back a little, a pouting look.

Suddenly, a pair of strong arms grabbed him from behind. MUCH stronger. Yang lifted him out of the water, and he used the red pulse again, but without his other powers, it was weak enough for Yang to resist.

"This one doesn't play fair, sis." Yang said as Jet struggled to break loose. He held his hand out in front of him, conjuring the sphere of water again. "Not this time!" she exclaimed, and fell backwards, dunking Jet underwater in the process and causing him to lose his concentration on the power.

Breaking free, he swam up to the surface and stole several breaths before going under again. He noticed Ruby's eyes on him as he did so, and knew his girlfriend would be determined not to be caught by him again. Jet swiftly swam behind her. She was crouched, knees bent, ready to either hit him or dive away. Hm. Jet eyed her lower regions as he considered a particularly nasty tactic which he knew would only work in this scenario. She had a pair of black panties on. That was good.

He reached in-between her legs and ran a hand down her stomach to her crotch and then released, before pulling back his hand very quickly. Sure enough, Ruby grabbed in front of her with a shiver, and Jet capitalised by shooting up and wrapping his arms around her with a laugh.

"Checkmate." Jet said as he locked his arms, this time making sure Ruby wouldn't get away. To his surprise, she didn't resist, but hung limply in his arms. "Tired?" he asked.

"Yeah." Ruby replied. "That was a jerk move."

"Misdirection and subterfuge are the finer points of any trickster." Jet replied, turning his lock into a hug. "Especially if they're as cunning as I am."

"What and what?" Ruby asked, confusedly.

"Never mind." Jet sighed. He looked past Ruby to see Yang running at them, Blake still entangled with Izzet. _'Lilac!'_ he called.

 _'Already there.'_ came the telepathic reply, and Yang went down, tripped by Lilac, who was under the water. _'We'll hold them off for you. LIJN will have victory!'_

"You were talking to them using telepathy." Ruby said, turning and wrapping her arms and legs around him. "That's why you were so silent."

"Of course." Jet replied. They kissed, their bare bodies pressed against one another briefly, before they broke apart.

"I think we rest after this, then we get moving." Ruby said. Jet nodded in agreement, then leant on the side of the wall, Ruby remaining in his arms, relaxing with him in the hot spring he had created with his own hands.

* * *

About half an hour later, Jet hauled himself out of the water and ignited his flame aura, immediately drying himself off. Ruby was still within sight, though the rest of the group was hidden within the steam.

"Has anyone told you how sexy and strong you look?" Ruby asked from behind him. He turned to see Ruby with her arms crossed around the side and deactivated his aura.

"The training and whatnot has done wonders for me, yes." Jet replied, putting on a pair of boxers from his backpack. "Though I think my heart kinda drains from it."

"No." Ruby contradicted, as he put a long sleeve black shirt on and reached for his jeans. "It adds a little toughness to me."

"Really?" Jet said, considering her. Perhaps the piece of metal did.

As he thought about it, something changed.

His vision became red tinged, crimson cracks across his view. His head pounded. His blood thickened in his own veins.

 _Kill them. Slay them. Burn them. Tear them._

Jet clutched his head and bowed. What was this?

 _Feed on them. Prey on them. Rend them all._

There was a voice in his head? What?

"What's… Jet?" Ruby asked, but Jet only made out those two words. He fell against the snow and shut his eyes, but that only served to make the voices louder.

 _Kill them bite them eat them peel them beat them KILL THEM ALL!_

Jet resisted this new compulsion to slay everything in sight as he opened his eyes. Ruby and Yang were both in his view. Oh, how he wanted to kill them. Taste their blood. See their worried faces as he tore them limb from limb with his own hands!

 _'No, stop it!'_ Jet thought, trying desperately to resist. Black aura was seeping off him like a virile gas. His eyes were itchy, the muscles in his arms deadening. No! He was going to succumb!

And yet even as Jet steeled himself for complete possession, the urges stopped, his sight returning to normal. There was a stabbing pain across his left arm, threading through his fingers like a barbed needle through his flesh.

"Jet! Jet!" Ruby yelled, getting his attention. The noise was piercing.

"Quiet!" Jet hissed. "I'm okay. I'm… okay."

He took deep breaths, the pain in his arm going away, but something felt different. Stronger… and yet lighter.

"Oh my god, Jet… your left arm." Yang said, with a worried look on her face. Confused, Jet raised it and gasped with shock.

He was looking at an arm covered with short, black fur. A bestial parody of a hand was on the end, and each digit of that black, muscled hand had a razor sharp claw at least an inch long.

"What?" was all Jet could say. He was speechless for one of the first times in his life.


	24. Chapter 24 - Wearing Down

Ruby felt her heart beating very quickly as she saw Jet flexing his Grimm arm. She had watched the transformation with her own eyes. Fur had sprouted, muscles growing, skin darkening. His whole left arm had been affected, or at least the part that Ruby could see. The part Jet hadn't found out about yet had been his teeth. Short fangs had replaced his canines.

This thing was transforming him into a Grimm! This power, the Angel of Darkness' end point was becoming a Grimm?!

"How many of you saw this?" Jet asked quickly, a very serious look in his bloody eyes.

"Just us." Ruby replied quickly. "The others are getting dressed."

"Do any of you have a spare glove?" Jet asked.

"Yeah." Yang replied, reaching into Ruby's pack on her back and pulling it out, ignoring her protests. Jet slipped it on, and curled down his long sleeve to cover up the fur.

"Not a word of this to the others." Jet hissed. "The last thing we need is this news causing panic. Understood?"

"Jet. I dunno-" Yang replied beside her, but she stopped when Jet bared his new fangs threateningly. Seems he did know about them.

"Fine." Ruby replied quickly. There would be no confrontation between her family, if Ruby had anything to say about it. "Yang, can you get the others?"

"Sure." her sister replied, and patted her shoulder before heading off. Ruby knelt down in front of her love, who gave her a sad smile.

"Seems like my time's running out, isn't it?" Jet asked her.

"Why didn't you tell us about the transformation?" Ruby asked, half angry, half worriedly. "You knew everything about this, so why didn't you tell me this was going to turn you into a Grimm?"

"I wasn't told about this part." Jet said, his eyes glimmering. "But I suppose it makes sense. First mind, then body. All is sacrificed to Deus in the end."

"You've got to fight it!" Ruby insisted. "You're not a Grimm yet, and you're still my love, so dammit just pull through!"

"I don't know if I can." Jet replied earnestly. "I don't even know if we'll reach the Festung der Schatten at all. Maybe we were destined to fall from the beginning, it would explain why I'm falling now. I should go, leave while I still can."

Ruby couldn't believe what she was hearing. Jet was seriously losing hope at a time like this? She drew her hand back swiftly, and slapped him across the cheek as hard as she could. The CRACK echoed in the snowy plains.

"And then what?" Ruby asked him sternly. "You'll come back and kill everyone, if Flux doesn't do it first! We need you, not just to kill Flux, but to keep us together! You're the one keeping us going, inspiring us, heck you're even a god on our side! If you die, or go mad, we'll die too. Is that how you want us to end?"

There was silence. Jet's eyes narrowed dangerously, anger plainly visible in them. Ruby felt her heart beat. Did she go too far? Would Jet attack? He got to his feet and Ruby did too. With a roar, he ignited his flames, which glowed a pure red, his hands curling into fists.

"No. No, I don't." Jet growled. "You're right. Flux must die, no matter what. And if I go, who will slay her?"

He picked up his own backpack and hoisted it onto his shoulders.

"Thank you." Jet said, and hugged her. "I needed you to yell at me. Really, thanks."

"No problem." Ruby replied, and gave him a peck on the cheek. "I'll give you a better kiss when we get through the rest of the day."

"Promise?" Jet asked, and Ruby suppressed a laugh as his eyes lit up like a child offered some chocolate.

"Yes. Let's go." Ruby whispered, then grasped her lover's right hand and walked with him to the other side of the hot spring, Jet disabling the Warm field.

* * *

Jet kept walking resolutely. Nothing but walking. Even though they had been at it for about two hours since the hot spring, and the sun was only starting to set.

He flexed his Grimm arm concealed by his glove and sleeve. Perfectly capable. Stronger. Easier to kill with.

That last point left a bitter taste in his mouth. What was he becoming? Jet reached a hand to his forehead. Even though it was bitterly cold after the spring, he was sweating, as if sick with a fever. He could feel himself burning up, like his own powers were beginning to consume him. And yet, his mind was on a hair trigger, ready to react, to fight, to slay on complete instinct.

Jet bumped into Ruby, who had been walking ahead of him. He tripped and fell, hitting the snow with a crunch. Cold hit his face, and Jet struggled to his feet. His legs wobbled, nearly buckling, as if his strength was deserting him. Frustrated, he ignited his powers, and commanded them to provide support to his legs. As soon as he did, his legs were light as a feather, and completely under his control.

"Is everything okay?" Ruby asked, not looking behind her.

"Just slipped." Jet muttered back. This was not good. If he was being forced to use his powers to stay active, it would only mean he was relying on them. Either that, or he was becoming addicted to his own power, or at least his muscles were. It felt good.

"We should stop." Ruby said, turning around, and upon seeing Jet, her eyes widened with fear. "Izzet!" she called. "I need you here now!"

The telepath was by Jet's side in a heartbeat. Jet's heart skipped a beat. What was it?

"Everyone form a perimeter around Jet and Izzet!" Ruby called.

"What's wrong with him now?" Weiss asked from behind as Izzet turned to Jet, a serious look in her eyes too.

 _'Ruby thinks you're getting sick.'_ Izzet thought. _'And you're both sweating in a cold climate and I can see your legs struggling to hold you up. Call me paranoid but I must make sure its tiredness and not the start of a fever.'_

 _'What is all this?'_ Jet asked her telepathically _. 'I'm fine. Let's keep going.'_ He felt fine. He WAS fine. What part of that didn't they get?

 _'Stay still.'_ Izzet replied as he tried to move forward.

 _'Why?'_ Jet asked, his temper immediately surging to the surface _. 'I'm not stopping, and if you try to stop me, I'll blast you all out of the WAY!'_

Izzet clutched her head as his mental voice rose in volume.

 _'Don't you know who you sound like?'_ she asked him, an imploring look in her eyes. _'Stand STILL!'_

Jet tried to move forward, but found he couldn't. He looked down to see a black field around his legs. A time stop? Did she really think that was going to stop him? Jet ignited his crimson flames, and they surged around him, including his frozen parts. He commanded them to undo this lock on his legs, to blast it away. It didn't work. The black fields around his legs were irresolute.

 _'That won't work.'_ Izzet said, before putting a cold finger on his chin and lifting his head up, before putting her other hand on his forehead. She turned to Ruby and shook her head. Jet's flames vanished, and had the time stop not been around his legs, he felt sure that they would have buckled again. How had they become so weak?

 _'You're burning up.'_ Izzet reported, worriedly. _'Everyone set up camp here! Our leader's not able to carry on!'_

With that, she released him, and Jet fell to the ground. His forehead was burning, and now that he thought about it, the unnatural heat from the flames was still present. Was he seriously becoming sick? The only part of him that didn't feel like a deadweight were his wings and…

His Grimm arm.

* * *

Ruby thrust the last peg of their tent into the ground. She then pulled it up, and took Jet inside. His movements seemed laboured. Ruby could sense his frustration, and she could understand. He held god-like power, yet he was bound by the limits of his own body.

She could feel a small portion of his tiredness as well, though not nearly as much as he felt it. It brought tears to her eyes. Her lover was fading.

She tucked him into their sleeping bag, and then meandered outside, still absorbed in her own thoughts.

"Take cover!" Lilac screamed from somewhere behind their tent. Ruby barely had any time to react before the ground shook, causing her topple over. Rising to her feet, Ruby heard a keening laughter from wherever the blast had come from, and ran around the side of the tent. There, she saw the one they'd come all this way to slay.

Flux was hovering in place above a crater that used to be a tent, flapping her bat wings, leering at her from above with her red eyes, the exact eyes that Jet had.


	25. Chapter 25 - Our Enemy

"Well, well." Flux giggled, tossing a strand of her black hair out of her face, the smooth lock falling into place behind her head. "Looks like I missed. Ah well, I'll just get that one."

She aimed her lance at the tent Jet was in! Ruby sprang to action at once.

"Transcend!" she screamed and hurled herself between Flux and the tent. The blast came thick and fast, pushing Ruby with an insane level of force, but Ruby persevered. She resisted the light and power of the attack, and as it ended, looked behind her flaming form to see that Jet's tent had not been damaged. She locked eyes with Flux as she grimaced.

"So you know how to use those powers too, hm?" Flux asked her. The embers of the ruined tent flickered and spat. "It's a pity you didn't see until too late. Now, another of your number has been taken. Lilac is gone now." No. Not another one!

"YANG! WEISS! BLAKE!" Ruby yelled at the top of her lungs, wondering why her teammates weren't coming out of the other two tents.

"They're locked, my dear Ruby." Flux replied, almost as if she was lamenting their loss. "Izzet's gone to look for herbs for our sweet Jet, who's sick. It's just you and me, pet." She landed, and disengaged her weapons. Ruby watched them fade as she approached, and she raised Crescent Rose, even though she knew she couldn't do any damage.

Flux drew in close, pushing her scythe down, but not hard enough that it slipped from her grip.

"It's sunset right now, and the clouds above us cover the sky." Flux hissed, getting right up in Ruby's face, and she could feel the heat of Flux's flame-aura, giving her a crimson glow. "Prepare thyself, Rose, for I will strike when the full moon is clear in the sky." She turned to go. "Tell Izzet that the order goes orange, green, red. She'll understand."

With a cackle, she took off, flying off into the distance. Ruby could only watch her go. After she disappeared, Ruby shot into Yang and Blake's tent. Sure enough, they were frozen in place by a ghastly red aura. A familiar one. Only Jet would know how to break these locks.

She ran back outside in time to see Izzet reappear at the campsite with a collection of orange, red and green plants. She took one look at the smoking crater and at Ruby's face, and her eyes grew fearful.

 _'What happened?'_ Izzet asked.

 _'Flux attacked us!'_ Ruby thought back. _'Lilac's dead, no body, and everyone except me and Jet have been locked by her. What do we do?'_

 _'First we make Jet better.'_ Izzet replied, a look of purpose covering her face. _'Then, he unlocks the others. Is Flux going to attack again?'_

 _'When we can see a full moon.'_ Ruby replied.

 _'That's tonight!'_ Izzet said quickly. _'Right. Come with me, I'll need you for this bit.'_

Izzet took Ruby by the hand and dragged her into Jet's tent. Ruby saw him shivering in his sleeping bag, arms crossed against his chest, clearly cold. There was no invulnerable flame barrier around him. He was vulnerable. Izzet set down the bunch of plants and separated them into a red pile, an orange pile and a green pile. She then looked up at Ruby.

 _'We need to chew up these plants in our mouths, mix it up with our spit.'_ Izzet said, reaching for a set of green leaves. _'Then, we kiss Jet and let him drink it, alright?'_

 _'Wait, what?'_ Ruby asked, watching as she placed them delicately on her tongue and began chewing. _'Why can't he do it himself?'_

 _'There's a chemical in our saliva that activates the healing properties of these herbs and leaves.'_ Izzet explained, continuing to chew _. 'It dissolves them and turns it into a natural medicine. If you're sick, or overexerted as Jet seems to be, you can't produce this chemical. We have to give it to him, as he can't produce it himself.'_

 _'Wait!'_ Ruby thought quickly as she reached for an orange bulb. _'Flux told me the order that it goes in! Orange, green, red.'_

 _'We don't have the time to question your source.'_ Izzet sighed. _'Start chewing just one of those. Wait until it liquefies in your mouth, when you can't feel any bits.'_

Ruby obeyed, stuffing the plant in her mouth and beginning to chew. It was an odd taste, a cross between a lemon and a strawberry. Ruby crunched away, watching as Jet looked up and met her eyes.

 _'What are you doing?'_ he asked, using his own telepathy. The bits in Ruby's mouth were getting smaller and smaller as she kept chewing, determined to make this medicine work.

 _'Izzet found a way to give your energy back.'_ Ruby replied, not even sure of her own words. _'We need you to drink what's in our mouths.'_

 _'That sounds disgusting.'_ Jet replied with a grimace. _'At least I'll get a chance to kiss both of you.'_

Ruby felt the mush in her mouth. There were no bits anymore. She leaned towards Jet's face, and he rolled so that he was face-up, and opened his mouth. Ruby opened her own, and made contact, allowing the fluid to exit her mouth and enter Jet's. Ruby heard him cough into her mouth as he swallowed, and after a full five seconds, he broke the kiss.

 _'That wasn't so bad.'_ he thought to her.

 _'My turn now.'_ Izzet asserted. _'Ruby, the red ones are going to be nasty. Do you want me to do it?'_

 _'No, I'll do it.'_ Ruby replied. _'The quicker we cure him, the better.'_

With that, she picked up the red leaves as Izzet gave Jet the contents of her mouth. Her lips overlapped his own, and Ruby took a deep breath as she put the leaves in her mouth. Her eyes immediately watered as the sour, bitter leaves hit her tongue, but Ruby resisted the impulse to spit them out and began to chew. The leaves were tough, and Ruby chewed as much as she could, ripping and tearing them.

Izzet broke apart and Jet erupted into a coughing fit. Ruby wondered what was happening to him.

"That was nasty." Jet said aloud.

 _'Ruby, are you ready?'_ Izzet asked her.

 _'These bits aren't dissolving!'_ Ruby thought back.

 _'Then they're ready. You might have to use your tongue for this one, though._ ' Izzet replied. Ruby immediately moved towards Jet, and he opened his mouth for her. Ruby covered his mouth, before depositing the fluid. Jet jolted against her, but Ruby kept him still. Pieces of the leaf clung to her tongue, and she realised that Jet would have to get them off.

 _'Jet, lick my tongue. There are bits that I can't get off.'_ Ruby ordered.

 _'If you say so.'_ Jet replied, and Ruby stuck her tongue into his mouth. She felt his running smoothly around her tongue, collecting the pieces of ripped leaf. Once the last, gentle ministrations of Jet had ended, she withdrew her tongue, but she dragged it along one of his fangs, and she felt a sharp pain which could only mean that she had cut it.

Ruby immediately released him and reached for her pack, desperate for a drink of water. Izzet did the same, and watched as they guzzled fluids as Jet started to move out of the sleeping bag. He got to his feet and flexed his muscles. Black aura started to rise off his skin once more, and his eyes were glimmering that sinister red.

"Thank you, my angels." Jet said, with a little bow to the pair of them, then, seemingly without noticing the aura, he stepped outside. _'You said something about the others being locked?'_

When had Ruby said it to him? She gave chase and pointed him in the direction of Yang and Blake's tent. Jet moved inside as Ruby turned to Izzet, who had joined her.

 _'Did you see the aura coming off him?'_ Izzet asked as Ruby heard a cracking sound, like a whip, accompanied by a white flash from inside the tent. She pressed her bleeding tongue against the inside of her cheek, the coppery taste of blood fresh on it.

 _'Yeah. And he's not reacting to it?'_ Ruby responded. Another flash, another crack. _'I also didn't say anything about the others being locked. Did you?'_

"Thank you, Jet." she heard Blake say from inside the tent. "Who did it?"

 _'No, I didn't.'_ Izzet replied. _'Is he able to read our minds?'_

"Our enemy did this." Jet's response sounded out from the tent. "I can feel her presence. She's close. Lilac's dead because of her as well. We need to get Weiss, then be ready for her. She's coming. Tonight."


	26. Chapter 26 - Attack

This was it. Jet strode forth away from the tents, the others in tow. Finally, after preparing for this moment for all of these years, it was time. He was still in control, and Flux was too prideful to back down on her word. She'd come, and he'd tear her to shreds.

He stood in a clearing, the black aura still radiating off him. It gave him strength, focus, purpose. The darkness had always been his source of strength. And now, he'd use it to completely destroy her.

His Grimm arm twitched in anticipation, ready for the kill. He'd hunt her down, make her rue the day she dared to break away from him. She would die for all she'd done, what she planned to do. Lilac and Nouvelle would be avenged this night.

He summoned his weapons, Doomsayer fitting snugly onto his arm, and Darkening attaching to his other arm. His claws flexed underneath the glove. He turned to face his teammates, the crimson fires combining with the dark aura to create a black and red conflagration that swirled around him, bearing his anger and rage.

* * *

Ruby watched from among her team as Jet addressed them. He looked positively frightening with his dark flames and fangs, the shimmering light of his eyes dimly recognisable amongst the glow of his fires. Was he about to make a speech? He raised his lance.

"Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Yang, Izzet!" Jet called. "Tonight, at last, we finally find an end to our struggle, our long days and nights of fighting, training and enduring all for this! All for this moment."

The clouds above him started to part. It was night time. The moon started to peek from behind the clouds, and Ruby felt something stir inside her at Jet's words.

"I see in your hearts the doubts, the worries for each other. I see in your minds the questions, the fears and regrets. I see in your hands the weapons needed to fight our enemy. I ask you, are you all ready?!"

"YES!" Ruby roared, and her team took up the call, the volume echoing throughout the flat, snowy lands.

"Are we scared?!" Jet asked.

"NO!" they responded.

"Then I bid you all, stand with me, and we will CRUSH FLUX!" Jet roared, raising his fist. As her team gave their own yells and cheers, Ruby raised her fist. Then, silence fell, until Yang's last echoes faded. Then, a new sound echoed through the field.

A clap. Then another.

Izzet walked out from the group. She was the one clapping. She continued to clap as she stood to their side. All eyes, including Jet's, followed her.

"Quite an arousing speech there." Izzet said, in a light, fluttery voice. Wait a minute. She could TALK?! "How droll."

"What do you mean?" Jet asked her. "And why have you hidden your voice until now?"

"Because it helped me keep up the masquerade." Izzet growled, in a voice so horrifyingly familiar, Ruby could scarcely believe it. Izzet reached up to her eyes, and wiped them. Two coloured contact lenses fell to the floor, revealing red, glowing, bloodshot eyes. Her hair started to sprout from her scalp, as it all turned black.

She crouched, and a 'schplat' sound could be heard as two, black, leathery bat wings sprouted from her winter clothes. Her legs stretched until she was the same height as Jet, and claws appeared on both of her hands. The two swords Izzet normally carried crumbled to dust at her side.

Flux gave a mocking bow, as crimson flames started to dance around her, the same that Ruby could see on Jet. Her lance and shield took shape on her arms.

"Now, let us make things more interesting." Flux crooned, and Ruby felt herself faint, her consciousness slipping away.

* * *

Jet watched as Flux pointed at each of his teammates.

"Alpha Lock." she commanded, and blue aura surrounded his allies, in the same fashion as before.

"Just you and me, huh?" Jet growled. His heart was racing, the Grimm part of him desperate to kill her, to satiate its bloodlust.

"Of course." Flux replied. Jet moved without thinking at once, speeding towards her, leaping up into the air before coming down, lance pointed at its target. Flux deflected his strike with her shield, and the loud impact of metal on metal sounded out across the land. Jet slashed aggressively, swinging at Flux incessantly, repeatedly, but every single strike he made was either deflected by Flux's shield or parried by her lance.

"What is all this?" Flux mocked, ducking a wide sweep and smacking Jet across the cheek with her lance. "You were far more able back then in the arena." Jet felt his fury surge like a tidal wave, and the anger he'd been repressing even in front of his team was coming out.

"It doesn't matter how much stronger you are than me." Jet hissed as he struck again and again, determined to break her guard. "I've suffered long and hard over these years, and now I'm here to finish what I started back in the prison."

"Which prison are we talking about?" Flux grunted as she knocked aside Jet's shield and barged him with her shoulder, knocking him back and trailing red flames. "The one where you tried to have me killed? The one where you decided to start this foolish quest to rid this world of me?"

"Said quest will be FULFILLED!" Jet roared as he leaped over Flux and delivered a strong strike to her back. She was knocked down, and tried to get to her feet, but Jet pinned her down by planting his left foot on her back, which felt stronger and yet, lighter. "You will DIE!" He turned his lance to face her head and plunged downwards, but his enemy vanished, causing the lance to embed itself in the ground.

With a curse, Jet wrenched it out only to feel another impact on the back of his head. He was sent flying forward, landing on his front. He propped himself up on an elbow as Flux bore down upon him, her own flames roaring in stark contrast to her grin.

"You think your half-formed power has anything on mine?" Jet asked her scornfully as he rose to his feet. He could feel the blow stinging, a harsh reminder that Flux could harm him where no mortal could. "You think you, who made the bond incomplete without a fulcrum, can even begin to contend a fully formed angel?"

He charged her, fury in his heart, and she met him with a hatred of her own, her face twisting into a scowl.

"I'm much more than you, half breed." she growled as she swept away his lunge with her lance, and bashed him with her shield. "I've felled you in the past. You've been entirely subjugated to me. It was because of me that you survived your whole, miserable existence. Even now, when I was with you since the sewers, you still move around like a headless wolf in a calm and collected sheep's clothing! Face it! You're WEAK!"

She swung in a wide loop and caught Jet by surprise, smashing her lance, hard, into the left side of his face, knocking him backwards once again. Jet fell, but the enraged Flux didn't stop there. She was on top of him as soon as Jet's back connected with the ground. Jet tasted blood as she raised her lance, which was glowing white hot with her malice.

Jet's weapons had gone flying from the impact. He was completely defenceless, his godly aura being of no protection against an enemy such as Flux.

"Let's see who is the true immortal here!" Flux screeched, before she plunged the white-hot, steaming lance straight into Jet's left eye, the last thing Jet heard being the crack of his own skull before pain and his own black aura caused him to pass out.


	27. Chapter 27 - Fury

Ruby awoke to feel grass.

Where was she?

Ruby opened her eyes to see Sunset Hill at night, the full moon shimmering from above. How had she gotten here?

"Hey there…" a familiar, distorted voice sounded out from behind her. Ruby sat up and span around to see Jet, sitting in front of her, dressed in a short, black t-shirt stained with blood, an eyepatch covering his left eye, which was leaking blood.

His right eye fixed upon her, seemingly heathy for being an Angel of Darkness, but Ruby looked at his lower body. A great, bloody hole in his stomach could be seen, oozing brackish blood upon the grasses they sat upon, tinging his trousers and his left glove red.

"You're hurt!" Ruby said, reaching over, but Jet grasped her hand and held it away with his gloved hand, a sad smile on his face.

"So are you, my love." Jet replied. He leaned closer, still keeping her hand away from his wound. "We're dead."

A stone dropped in Ruby's stomach. No. That couldn't be true!

"You were locked down by Flux." Jet said, with a sinister grin. "I fought her alone, and then this happened." He pointed down to his stomach, where the bloody hole was.

"Then we were all unlocked." Yang's equally distorted voice sounded out behind her. Ruby turned, still clutching Jet's hand and heart pounding to see her sister, her blonde locks stained with blood, crimson drips running down her face. "I died first. The bitch cracked my skull, then Weiss was next."

"Burnt to a crisp." Weiss said, as she appeared behind Ruby, an uncharacteristically wide grin on her face. Ash covered her, and her right side was charcoal black, her normally perfect skin cracked and blackened. "Blake tried to put me out, but she's failed. She's still fighting Flux now."

"We didn't see what happened to you." Jet said in a deathly whisper, bringing her attention back to him. "We think you were strangled."

Was that how she'd died? Had she really fallen like that? Why couldn't she remember anything?

"Well, whatever." Yang said with a smile, her voice slow and unnatural. "Come and play with us, Ruby."

"We'll show you how to live the fun life." Weiss added behind her. "Or die the fun death. Hee hee!"

Now Ruby was beginning to get scared. That wasn't like Weiss. None of them were acting the way they should. As she came to realise this, Jet and Yang pulled out identical knives and raised them aloft.

"In this world, pain is the only thing we can feel. Rejoice in it!" Jet cried, before plunging the dagger into Ruby's exposed leg. Ruby screamed out in pain, but this only seemed to excite her ghastly companions.

"What are you doing?!" Ruby screamed. "Stop it!"

"I wanna feel it too." the ghostly Yang murmured, before she stabbed Ruby's other leg. Weiss plunged her dagger into Yang's back, and she moaned with pleasure. It seemed that Ruby was the only one not enjoying this orgy of violence.

"Wouldn't want to let you miss it either." Jet said, before he drew another knife and drove it into Weiss' breast. Blood was beginning to cover Ruby, and she was sent into spasm as Jet jiggled the knife in her leg. Weiss let out a cry of joy before, with an 'ahh', she withdrew the knife out of Yang and moved towards Ruby.

"STOP!" Ruby screamed, slapping at Jet's gloved hand. To her amazement, it fell off, but Ruby's eyes were immediately drawn to the human hand greeting her eyes. The unreal, yet tangible, human arm.

And then it clicked.

Jet's non-bloodshot eyes.

His behaviour.

The normal arm.

This wasn't real! It was an illusion!

With a blue flash, the nightmare world and the demonic apparitions of her friends vanished.

* * *

Ruby's wounds reknitted, and she fell against the snowy ground of the field. The clacking of metal on metal made her look up.

Jet and Flux were locked in combat, the two deadly lances of the two angels swirling around the pair, the shields both blocking and acting as weapons themselves. They were both wrapped in god-like aura-flames, though Ruby could see Jet was outclassed by their enemy.

"I'm much more than you, half breed." Flux growled as she swept away Jet's lunge with her lance, and bashed him with her shield. "I've felled you in the past. You've been entirely subjugated to me. It was because of me that you survived your whole, miserable existence. Even now, when I was with you since the sewers, you still move around like a headless wolf in a calm and collected sheep's clothing! Face it! You're WEAK!"

She swung in a wide loop and caught Jet by surprise, smashing her lance, hard, into the left side of his face, knocking him backwards. Ruby felt her heart skip a beat as Jet fell, his lance and shield flying away and dissolving into purple aura. Flux was on top of him as soon as Jet's back connected with the ground, and she raised her lance, which was white hot with heat.

"Let's see who is the true immortal here!" Flux screeched, before she plunged the white-hot, steaming lance straight into Jet's face.

"NO!" Ruby screamed as instinct took over. "Transcend!" she yelled, before triggering her semblance and speeding over to Flux, shoulder barging her and causing her to fall backwards. She turned back to Jet's body to see it well and truly enveloped in the black aura of his corruption.

No. This couldn't be happening!

This was… this is…

Ruby looked up as Flux rose to her feet and jumped back, laughing insanely.

That bitch was really going to pay now.

Ruby felt anger fuel her heart as she unsheathed Crescent Rose. Her enemy ceased her cackles under her hateful gaze. Never before had Ruby truly hated someone, but now, the world would witness what happened when she did.

"Aw, looks like I plucked a little heart string." Flux giggled. She spread her wings and raised her lance. "But without your big, bad angel, what chance do you really have against me? If you surrender to me, I will show you mercy, as I will your friends."

"Go to hell!" Ruby yelled angrily, before she charged, her purple flames swirling around her as she activated her semblance. Flux raised her shield to block the first swing but Ruby changed direction entirely, and slashed her across the chest. It did no damage.

She tried again and again, fury building as Flux guarded some attacks, and the ones that hit her did next to nothing, any hole in her aura quickly being covered from her strikes. That infuriating grin on her face. If it was the last thing she did, Ruby would wipe that smile off her face.

She crouched as Flux sook several steps back, eyes gleaming with tears of laughter.

"Really, Ruby?" Flux asked her with a titter. "We both know it's useless."

Ruby felt her weapon drop, despite herself. Despite all her hate, Ruby knew Flux was right. Crescent Rose wasn't doing anything to her. And it'd only be a matter of time before one of Flux's attacks would connect, once she started attacking.

Flux pointed her lance at Ruby, and started charging her laser attack. Ruby knew she must have one, as she'd seen Jet do it many times before. Before Flux could complete this process, a massive, black shape flew beside her, a black fist smashing into her face and knocking her over, sending her rolling to the side, Ruby's eyes following the whole time, before she gazed back upon her saviour.

A massive Grimm, at least twice Ruby's height, stood before her. Muscled arms and legs, claws on each. Red lines crisscrossing where fur wasn't present, and even then, its legs, arms, and massive muscled chest were covered in this black fur. The red eyes and white plating on the skull of the human-like face typical of all Grimm, and a maw of needle sharp fangs.

The Grimm roared, the power of its voice causing the very ground to shake. It then turned its eyes upon Ruby, and she supressed a shiver. Was she only a meal that this thing was fighting for? It drew closer, but Ruby didn't move. It reached out a clawed hand and Ruby shut her eyes, ready for the end.

And yet it didn't come. A massive finger went under her chin and forced her head up, causing Ruby to open her eyes. The Grimm was looking at her, but it didn't seem to want to attack her. Ruby kept her eye contact with this thing, sure that if she broke it, it might attack. Its other hand came towards her, but it only stroked her hair, very gently for a creature of this size. What was going on?

It let go and turned to Flux. Immediately upon seeing her, it roared again, before charging her, its footsteps causing the earth underneath them to tremble. Flux hissed and took flight, no longer amused.

"CREATURE OF GRIMM!" she called. "YOU WILL OBEY ME NOW. KILL THAT GIRL!"

Somehow Ruby knew, as she felt the places that the Grimm had touched her, that it wasn't going to kill her. She turned to go back to the body of Jet, while Flux was distracted by her unlikely ally, to find that the body had gone, replaced by a bloody splat, and nothing else.

She heard the Grimm start to breathe erratically and rapidly. Ruby realised after a couple of seconds of hearing it that it was laughing. She turned just in time for it to gesture at the place where the body had been, and blue flames started to cover its body.

"Jet?" Flux asked. "Is that you?"

The Grimm roared once again before, with an amazing display of strength, leaped up into the air and grabbed her by the legs. A blue shockwave was blasted out by Flux in an attempt to get it off her, but the Grimm was too strong, keeping her pinned and positioning her underneath it. Flux barely had the chance to scream out in dismay before she was crushed underneath the mass of the flaming beast.

It immediately got up to see Flux on her back, her lower body crushed, blood oozing everywhere. Its red eyes hardened, and it began to punch her face, further pulverising it with each and every blow. After ten punches, during which Flux's body had been enveloped in red flames, it brought both of its hands together and interlocked the massive fingers before bringing it down upon her, completely decapitating her and crushing her head.

The Grimm roared out to the world in victory, and Ruby felt it was safe to approach it. It quivered as Flux's body disappeared, the flames coalescing into a red orb, the last vestiges of Flux. She tapped its leg, and it looked down upon her. Its eyes widened, and it leaped away from her before crouching. The light left its eyes and a massive spurt of blood suddenly sprayed from its back. It fell, and Jet leapt from the corpse of the massive Grimm.

Ruby looked upon her lover. This was it. They could end this struggle right here. Her love was red-faced, sweat pooling everywhere, blood everywhere. His hair was matted with crimson, a gash down his cheek. His eyes were fully bloodshot, red lines criss-crossing around the rouge irises. His wings were outstretched.

He was moving towards the orb that was all that remained of Flux, hatred plain in his eyes and scowl. His lance rose, ready to come crashing down with all the force of him, a living god incarnate.

"Do it, Jet!" Ruby encouraged.


	28. Chapter 28 - Final Fall

The lance fell.

Into the snow beside Jet.

He hadn't struck Flux's soul at all.

"What are you doing?!" Ruby called over the snow storm. "End it already!"

By the reddish glow of Flux, Ruby saw Jet stretch out a hand towards the orb. What was he doing?

"By my power." Jet said, slowly. "Cursed fates bring to all, darkness incarnate shall fall, long purge of the light, into the shadowy night." He plunged his fist into Flux's light, and his flames flared again, though this time, they were a whole new hue. Pure blackness flickered next to prominent crimsons, his eyes shimmering an unfettered red through the midst.

"Chaos reborn shall I be known, become the evil beyond feasible. Gone is he who has been known, as has his fates been sown." Jet chanted, his voice deepening and rising in volume. "I am he who is corruption, he who is undefeatable, the Avatar of Annihilation!"

Ruby felt her stomach drop as he held his hands out in front of him, Flux's light gone. He then crossed his arms across his chest, and bowed his head. The flames, billowed, roaring outwards, creating flames many times bigger than he, and a darkness Ruby's eyes couldn't pierce. Storm clouds, black as charcoal, were gathering above her and her team.

"Did he just-" Weiss tried to say, but a whirring noise interrupted her, followed by a very loud crunching sound.

"He absorbed it." Ruby said, not turning to her teammates, still in shock. "He didn't… kill her." She didn't even bother to ask how they'd been unlocked. All she was doing was watching Jet.

The flames slowly receded. As they did so, Ruby heard Jet's laughter. It was maniacal, out of control. Clanks could be heard from where he was. Wings extended from behind the figure. Then, just as suddenly as they had flared up, the flames stopped, revealing Jet in his last, fully corrupted form.

Jet's skin was glimmering, dark, shimmering purple lines running across his flesh, glowing eerily. His whole body was covered in them. Even his face now bore their mark across his cheeks and forehead. His eyes shone a deep, sinister red, the glow covering any detail. Red rings hovered around his wrists and ankles, another hovering above his head in a parody of an angel's halo. The feathers of his wings were now a pure white, though they were tinged with red from his halo.

"Ah, my transformation is finally complete." Jet said with a grin, his red flames reappearing. He looked at his mismatched arms, then turned his gaze back to Ruby. "Thank you for helping me defeat Flux."

"What have you done?!" Weiss yelled, getting in front of Ruby. "The whole point of this was so you could destroy her, not join with her!"

"Destroy her?" Jet asked, flashing an evil smile. "Why would I do that? The power of one Angel is nice, yes, but two angels? My friends, we have all the power needed to rule the world. First, we crush humanity, lead the Grimm in, and we can become lords and ladies of Remnant."

"Never!" Ruby yelled at him, now incensed. The Jet she knew would never talk like this, act this way. She had to get him back, no matter what.

"Yeah!" Yang roared. "Jet, you of all people should know there's no way we'd do that!"

Ruby raised Crescent Rose, hearing the clicking and whirring of her team's weapons behind her. They were ready.

"So you defy a living god?" Jet asked, grinning insanely. "This is your last chance to change your mind. The power of Deus flows through my veins, and the seer has already proclaimed my victory. You stand no chance against me. Do you still fight?"

"We do." Ruby said quietly. "We will get you back." She levelled her scythe, in a direct challenge to Jet, the boy whom she'd loved. Who she STILL loved.

"So be it." Jet replied. The purple lines etched into his skin glowed brightly as he raised his arms.

A dreadful roar echoed from behind him. Jet leapt up into the air, reaching the height of a small apartment block, and a massive Grimm flew from out of nowhere underneath him. Black scales and leathery wings told them it was the dragon from before! Jet landed on its back, and roared, the dragon adding to his call. Howls could be heard behind them, and Ruby whirled around as hundreds of beowolves and ursa surged behind them.

"BY MY ORDER, AS THE CHAMPION OF DARKNESS, ATTACK!" Jet boomed. As one, the Grimm howled and roared, before sprinting towards them, a black wave of claws, teeth, and hateful red eyes. Ruby charged into this new foe, not bothering to wait for her teammates. They were on her in a flash.

Nicks and gashes.

Slicing and slashing.

Ruby was a whirlwind of blade and blood, never stopping.

Decapitating a Grimm on the left.

Being slashed in the knee from the right.

Feeling a claw on her back, swirling around and slicing three Grimm on the way.

Killing that one, but another was scratching her.

Spinning around, cutting the aggressor down.

Dodging a massive foot and killing more.

Ruby reached the other side of the crowd not many more moments after. She felt blood soaking her skin, her clothes matted with crimson, her beloved scythe dripping inchor. She spun around, droplets splashing everywhere to see yet more frenzied Grimm advancing on her atop red-stained snow, and Jet, atop his dragon, a single arm raised up to the sky.

Ruby heard thunder crackling above her, and dived away from the spot she was on as a bolt of red lightning came flashing down where she had been, incinerating some of the Grimm that were too close. Getting up, she heard it again, and dodged another bolt before running back into the Grimm in front of her, knowing Jet wouldn't attack if too many of his allies were threatened.

She looked up after killing a pair of beowolves to see Jet getting hit by a flurry of fiery bullets, and the source was revealed to be Yang. Ruby rushed over to her sister as she fired more shots before another Grimm latched onto her back. Ruby sliced as hard as she could, cutting her target in twain and showering them both in blood.

"Thanks." Yang said as she punched a beowolf in the jaw, causing it to howl in pain. Ruby glanced up at Jet to see him raising his arm again, the crackle of lighting above them meaning one thing.

"Yang, up above!" Ruby yelled, diving to the side and hitting something furry.

"What?" Yang asked, looking up. Ruby's heart stopped as the red lightning hit her sister with a bang, before she was sent flying backwards from the blast. She landed flat on her back, and tried to get back up, but fell still. Ruby immediately dashed to her sister's side, ignoring the Grimm around her.

She had her eyes closed, her breathing heavy. Ruby immediately flew into a rage, hacking, slashing, killing all the Grimm that got close. The furious girl span in a flurry of rose petals and dead Grimm, not stopping, determined to keep them away from her downed sister.

A screech told her Weiss was in pain too, though where she was Ruby didn't know. The Grimm seemed to be getting thinner in number, and after stopping her fifth killing blow, found that most of them were lying dead in the blood slickened snow. The only survivors were loping away, injured.

She turned her gaze to Weiss, who was limping over to her, dragging an incapacitated Blake behind her by the arm.

"Look after them." Ruby ordered, turning her eyes to Jet, who still hovered in place atop his mount.

"Go get him." Weiss encouraged behind her. Ruby didn't need telling twice; she shot forward, closing the gap between her and her love, knocking aside bodies in her haste.

The dragon opened its maw wide, and expelled a great gout of pure black flames. Ruby dashed to the side to avoid it, only to hear Jet's lightning about to strike, forcing her to the side once again to avoid it. Getting up, Ruby found herself eye to eye with the dragon, which opened its mouth wide.

She didn't hesitate. Ruby whirled around to the side and brought her scythe downwards upon the dragon's neck. It bit deep into the beast's neck, and it shrieked as she withdrew her scythe, allowing its brackish blood to flow.

"How rude." Jet commented, before he raised his arm, a red ball of energy forming, before he flung it at Ruby. She was just barely able to dodge the fast-moving projectile, and she swung again at the beleaguered dragon before it had a chance to move its head. This time, the scythe cut clean through, severing the head from the body, and the body attempted to raise its neck before it fell, a tide of blood gushing from the neck, causing Jet to topple off it.

Ruby ran around the fallen beast, circling around it to see him getting to his feet from a crouch. Slowly, he rose up, until he was fully standing. His eyes were full of hatred, the red glow shimmering with barely controlled, fiery emotion.

"So you survived the Grimm I call to my aid." Jet growled, more to himself than to Ruby. "I guess all the important jobs, you have to do yourself." He stretched out his arms, allowing his lance and shield to form, and they looked far different than before. The four spikes had grown, the ruby on the tip sharp and pointed. The metal looked more black than silver now. Blue aura flowed around the spirals on the lance and shield.

"Well, this is it." Jet said. "Ruby Rose, today, we fight for the fate of your world. Our final fight."

Both fighters crouched. Ruby and Jet locked eyes. Crescent Rose and Doomsayer pointed at their owner's targets. Lighting flashed all around them, and Jet's new, blue aura grew even brighter than before.


	29. Chapter 29 - The Fate of Remnant

Even as she maintained her ready stance, questions were running around Ruby's mind like flies around a corpse.

Why had he betrayed them?

Why was he trying to kill them, Ruby with them?

She looked at her lover, the red glow in his eyes. What could have possibly caused this?

Then, she realised the truth. Flashes of memories came to the forefront of her mind.

* * *

"So what's new?" Jet asked, his eyes closed, covered in the sleeping bag and intertwined with Ruby. She giggled.

"Turn towards me and open your eyes." Ruby instructed. Jet rolled in her arms until he was facing her, then cracked his eyelids open.

The eyes were slightly bloodshot, and a small red ring was present in the outermost regions of his irises.

"You're beautiful." Jet whispered.

* * *

"No." Ruby contradicted, as she watched Jet put a long sleeve black shirt on and reached for his jeans. "It adds a little toughness to me."

"Really?" Jet said, considering her about his heart on the side of the hot spring he had created.

Then, a loud crack came from his body, and a dark aura seeped out from his skin, billowing outwards like some noxious gas. He clutched his head and bowed, suddenly pain-stricken.

"What's happening Jet?!" Ruby asked, fearfully.

* * *

"Thank you, my angels." Jet said, with a little bow to the pair of them, then, seemingly without noticing the black aura seeping off him, he stepped outside. _'You said something about the others being locked?'_

When had Ruby said it to him? She gave chase and pointed him in the direction of Yang and Blake's tent. Jet moved inside as Ruby turned to Izzet, who had joined her.

 _'Did you see the aura coming off him?'_ Izzet asked as Ruby heard a cracking sound, like a whip, accompanied by a white flash from inside the tent. She pressed her bleeding tongue against the inside of her cheek, the coppery taste of blood fresh on it.

 _'Yeah. And he's not reacting to it?'_ Ruby responded.

* * *

Now Ruby understood. This whole time, Jet had been fighting his own corruption at the hands of the dark boon that Deus had given them. Now, she realized, he'd succumbed to his own desires, and it was not the Jet she knew that stood before her now, but a Jet who was now completely enslaved to his own wishes. In a way, Ruby pitied him, but she steeled her heart. Now was not the time to get emotional. She had to fight!

Jet flew at her, lance outstretched. Ruby used the haft of Crescent Rose to deflect it, the impact sending a clanging sound that rung through the air. Barely had Ruby's ears stopped ringing when she leapt over a wide sweep from Doomsayer and ducked a red laser blast that emitted from Darkening, suing her momentum to slash at Jet, though her strike was, like before with Flux, blocked by the aura he had.

This combat continued, the pair of them locked in deadly battle. Ruby leaped over Jet, arcing her scythe to attack upon landing, but Jet quickly blocked it and whirled around, forcing Ruby to duck another heavy swing from the lance. Even though she knew all that power must require tremendous strength, she couldn't hear any heavy breathing from her opponent.

"My little Ruby, you stand no chance." Jet chuckled, his voice echoing all around Ruby. He was grinning savagely, like a beast near its helpless prey. Ruby immediately dived back, and not a moment too soon, for Jet punched the ground, unleashing his large shockwave attack.

Ruby felt the ripple of force as it passed through her, though she kept her balance, and watched as Jet crouched, though Ruby realised with a jolt her mistake of leaving him alone. He was in a firing position, and Ruby felt the very air tremble as if fearful of the energy about to course through it.

"Why do you continue to fight when there is no hope?" he asked, before firing a freight train sized laser at Ruby that she had to use her semblance to dodge. "Why do you refuse power when it is in front of you like an injured bird in front of a cat?" He fired again, and Ruby evaded again, though the beam scorched her cloak a little. "Why do you choose everyone in Remnant over me?"

Ruby felt a tear reach her eye at that. But more than her feelings of anguish at having to attack Jet, she felt anger, a righteous anger. Thinking the word 'Transcend', she engulfed herself in purple flames and charged him.

"Because I have hope!" Ruby screamed out in reply, slashing Jet across the face, this time her activated powers cutting through the aura flame around Jet. "Because that power is evil!" She slipped in-between Jet's legs and swiped at his back before he had a chance to turn around. "Because those people need saving from the Grimm, and right now, you're one of them!"

Jet vanished. Ruby wheeled around, searching for him, when she spotted him directly behind her. He was on the other side of their battleground. He was wearing an expression of shock. He let go of his weapons, and they fell to the ground with a crunch.

"So we meant nothing?" he asked, before he face contorted into a snarl. "Very well. Then I will END YOU RUBY ROSE!" Blue flames surrounded him now, and he roared his fury to the world. As he did, he grew in size, black fur growing, covering his body. Clawed hands and feet appeared, muscles building, skin darkening, a white bony plate covering his skull.

The Grimm from before, the one that had come to Ruby's aid, the one who had mutilated Flux. It crouched on all fours, Jet glaring at Ruby from within his own corrupted flesh. Blue fires surrounded his new body, and he lumbered very quickly towards Ruby, raising a massive fist, intending to simply crush her.

Ruby swung Crescent Rose at the arm, deciding to cut it off rather than risk running and getting crushed. To her dismay, the blade simply snapped off the iron hard aura covering him. Now Ruby panicked, dodging one punch before leaping over another and triggering her semblance. She ran, to the other side, before stopping and catching her breath. She looked at the now useless pole that was the remains of her beloved Crescent Rose, and whimpered. What was she going to do now? Ruby knew she couldn't fight barehanded.

Jet slowly approached, growling like a feral dog, getting closer and closer. He brandished his claws, which glimmered against his fur. Ruby could feel raindrops on top of her head. She had to get stronger. She just HAD to! Otherwise, she'd lose.

Think. Think! How?

And then, it clicked. Ruby realised what she had to do.

* * *

"That episode that you saw on the roof was what I'll refer to as a Reversion." Jet said to Ruby and the others. "You see, my mind is now on the clock. Slowly, my mind will change. I don't know what will happen over time, but the end result is… insanity. Once in a while, I'll experience this Reversion. It is extremely painful, both to body and soul, but if I can resist it, then I'll get stronger for only a small acceleration of the process. The reverse happens if I fail; a small boost in strength and a larger increase in acceleration."

* * *

SHE had a smaller version of Jet's powers! And the way to instigate this process was-

 _'Are you done? You've no ways of beating me left. Just give up.'_ Jet's voice reverberated in her head.

"Transcend." Ruby said aloud, and her purple aura flames flared. "Transcend." she repeated, and they died down.

 _'Hah, do you still think your pathetic subsidy of my power can help you?'_ Jet asked.

"Transcend, transcend, transcend, transcend." Ruby repeated, feeling her flames flare and die, flare and die. She could feel something rushing through her veins, but it didn't feel like blood.

 _'Should I just kill you now? Save your pretty voice?'_ Jet growled as he got closer.

"TRANSCEND! TRANSCEND! TRANSCEND!" Ruby screamed out, forcing her flames got glow hotter and brighter before being forcibly snuffed out.

Then, it happened.

Every nerve ending in Ruby's body was set alight with pain. She collapsed in a pain-fuelled spasm as her flames rebelled, taking a hold over her, dropping the remainders of her weapon. Now, the hard part. Ruby resisted the pain her body was putting her through with every fibre of her being.

It was excruciating, and even as Ruby did everything she could to dull the pain and resist, she wondered how on remnant Jet was tough enough to survive this. The seconds ticked by, and slowly, Ruby began to wonder whether it would end.

Suddenly, strength surged in her muscles. The pain stopped as soon as it had started. Ruby stood up, the flames feeding her once more, but something had changed.

The strength in her muscles was unbelievable. Ruby felt her body surge with confidence. She could feel the power flowing through her, her own reservoir of Jet's power.

 _'What have you done to yourself?'_ Jet wondered as he crouched, massive fists raised. Ruby felt her own hands curl into fists.

"I WILL SAVE YOU, JET!" Ruby yelled shrilly, before she triggered her semblance, speeding as fast as she could towards the massive Grimm. This was it. Everything, Remnant, Jet, her team, all was riding on this move.

She slammed her fist into the chest of the Grimm, and the force of the punch sent a ripple of force through the body of the Grimm. A burst of blood emanated from the back of the Grimm, and Jet was sent flying out of it, though he landed on his feet. The Grimm body crumpled once more, and Ruby looked over the body to see Jet.

No flame aura surrounded him. No red eyes. His face registered nothing but fear.

Then, the Grimm body between them exploded in a shower of black flames and scraps of flesh.


	30. Chapter 30 - Goodbye

Ruby was sent reeling, and Jet was pushed back through the snow, leaving two trails in the snow. Ruby met his eyes, and she saw the same look of confusion and fear.

"Ruby… I-" Jet tried to say, but then, the blue flames surged around him once more with an angry roar. Doomsayer reappeared in his hand, and he shuddered as he roared in pain.

"JET?!" Ruby called, uncertainly.

"You… will not… CONTROL ME!" Jet yelled in-between gasps of agony. He took his lance, held it like a javelin, and directed it at his own heart.

Before Ruby could do anything, say anything to stop him, Jet thrust it into his own chest, and made it glow with his own destructive power. He collapsed, blood pouring from his wound.

The living flame around him shrieked once more, before slowly dying away, flickering in its last breaths, before finally dying to nothing but glowing embers around him. A crimson puddle began to grow around Jet as he laid there, panting.

Ruby got up from her prone position and ran towards Jet's side, kneeling next to him. He reached out a hand, and she took it in both of hers. It was icy cold, and Ruby tried to warm it as best she could. Her mind was reeling.

"No no no! Jet, why?" Ruby asked, tears falling thick and fast as she gazed upon her dying boyfriend. It was growing cold, and she knew why. Jet was losing his power, and as a result, she was losing hers.

"I had to." Jet replied, hissing as she tried to pull the otherworldly weapon out. He flicked her hand away. "Stop that. That will only hasten my demise."

"But you're a god!" Ruby cried. "You should be able to take this and get back up!"

"Not anymore. Even if I had succeeded and killed you, I would have died too." Jet said with a smile. "Ruby, there's something you should know about me. Something I've been keeping from you since the first day I met you."

"What is it?" Ruby asked tearfully.

"The first time I truly met you was actually at the prison where Jet was being held captive." Jet said. "You should know, I'm not actually from your timeline."

"Wait, what?" Ruby interrupted confusedly.

"You don't have to understand, and I won't explain. We have too little time." Jet insisted. "Raven and I chased the Flux from our time into your time about fifteen years ago, with Izzet's help. She also shielded us from any paradox. But we were separated, and so we disguised ourselves in case anyone recognised us. Raven became the masked hunter, I became Shade. That story Dennis told you…" he hissed as a spasm erupted from his chest, "that was actually me, the one who saved my younger self. Raven was also the one who saved Yang back on that train, to ensure the future remained our designed future."

"So that shadow clone that was killed at the prison-" Ruby said.

"Was my younger self, yes." Jet interrupted. "After I assumed his form, I followed you and influenced your training. I made sure that you all were ready for when we would face our Flux, only feeding you snippets of information so that you would want to know more, and would follow me. Then, Raven met her end. She was a martyr, as she made sure that we would feel enough dark emotions to awaken my powers. Then, I set up everything so that we would run into Flux. I planned it all."

"Wait, you knew everything?!" Ruby asked, astounded. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"I owe apologies to so many, including you, my love." Jet replied. "You were all my puppets, and I made sure that everything played out the way I wanted it to. I manipulated you all. You should hate me, for what I've done." He closed his eyes, a grimace on his face. "I could have told you everything, but I was afraid, paranoid. I didn't want anything to happen differently. I wasn't taking any chances. What would you have done had you known everything I knew?"

Ruby could see his point, but that didn't stop the stab of betrayal she felt.

"My power all came from my knowledge of the future." Jet continued. "The reason I was so good in class, in combat, in everything I seemed to do, it was all because I'd done it all before. I just acted like it was new to me. And believe it or not, I already had all of your semblances before I met you, it was solely a matter of touching each of you so that it seemed like I'd only just copied them."

He opened his eyes and locked them with Ruby.

"I understand if you don't love me anymore." Jet said, a tear in his eye. "I don't deserve your love. You should just leave me to die, after what I've done."

Another surge of sadness broke through Ruby. Sure, it hurt to hear that he'd been keeping all this secret from her, but it was a bigger heartbreak to hear that he thought it better for her to simply leave him for dead, and even more that he thought Ruby didn't love him anymore.

She leaned down and kissed him on the lips, brushing them. Jet remained motionless as she sat up. The blood was staining her trousers now, but Ruby didn't care.

"Jet, I don't love you any less!" Ruby cried. "You're breaking my heart, thinking that I wouldn't love you!"

The look of shock on Jet's face was a first for Ruby. Then, a pained smile.

"Stubborn as a mule, you are." Jet replied. "You can take the lance out of me now. There's one last card I have to play."

"But you'll die." Ruby said, still sobbing.

"Nothing can stop that now." Jet replied. "After you've done that, lie next to me. Don't worry about the blood."

Ruby obeyed, gripping the hilt tightly, and wrenching it out, causing a fountain of blood to pour out of the wound. Job done, Ruby laid next to Jet.

"Let me hold… your hand for one… last time." Jet requested, holding an arm up. His breathing was becoming ragged, forced. Ruby immediately took his arm with her own, and Jet's whole body glowed purple.

"One… final power. Goodbye, to both… my life and… my love." Jet gasped, before he unleashed a purple fireball into the sky from beside Ruby. It exploded in mid-air, and without warning, Ruby felt herself lose consciousness, and the world turned black.

"One… last… sacrifice… I give my heart and soul so that... the world may... live on..."

* * *

The four girls gradually made their way to their dorm, Weiss, Blake, and Yang all barely able to keep their eyes open as they trudged down the corridor, each footfall weighted with tiredness. Ruby, however, despite feeling drained, was wide awake, in stark contrast to the rest of her team.

As they walked into their dorm room, Blake and Weiss immediately crashed into their beds, neither bothering to get changed. Yang was not going to be denied her sleep either, after saying "Night, Ruby.", she clambered onto her bunk, and, within seconds, Ruby could hear her sister's gentle snores start to permeate the room.

Ruby sat down in a corner of the room, looking at the sleeping beauties that made up her team. They had all been through a lot, she thought, and so had she. So why was she still wide awake? Ruby sighed, resting her legs, and slowly, her energy came back. She thought about studying for a test that Professor Port was going to give them in two days' time, but decided against it. Ruby knew that studying in an attempt to fall asleep only brought boredom, not tiredness.

She decided to go outside, to take a stroll in the numerous parks that surrounded Beacon. She picked up Crescent Rose, the cool feel of her weapon bringing with it the warmth of an old friend. Ruby smiled, her darling had been through nearly every bit of action she had. Walking down the corridor, she thought to herself. What did she want to do? It was incredibly boring, being on her own.

Ruby reached the door leading out of the building, and pulled it wide open. A cool breeze greeted her along with the deep orange sky that signified the onset of night was beginning. Ruby looked around her, seeing no one, before activating her Semblance, and speeding through Beacon. Yang had told her of a sweet spot near Emerald forest where one could watch the sunset, and Ruby wanted to check it out.

The spot itself lay on a grassy hill, overlooking the entrance to Beacon on one side and the Emerald forest on the other. Ruby looked up in time to see the gentle semi-circle sun that was dipping, and relaxed her shoulders. As Yang had told her, it was a nice sight to see.

Ruby was about to more towards the peak, when she felt an immense, crushing feeling of sadness. It was like a stab in her otherwise happy heart, and tears rushed to her eyes. Ruby looked down and wiped her eyes, confused as to why she felt so crestfallen. She looked up to the hill once again.

There was no-one there.

 **Fin**


End file.
